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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


w 


THROUGH  A  MICROSCOPE 


SOMETHING   OF   THE   SCIENCE 
TOGETHER   WITH    MANY    CURIOUS   OBSERVATIONS 

INDOOR  AND   OUT 
AND     DIRECTIONS     FOR     A     HOME-MADE     MICROSCOPE 


SAMUEL  WELLS,  MARY   TREAT  AND 
FREDERICK  LEROY  SARGENT 


CHICAGO 

THE   INTERSTATE   PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

BOSTON  :     30    FRANKLIN    STREET 


COPYRIGHT,  1886, 

BY 
INTERSTATE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PAGB. 

I.  Through  a  Microscope          .        .  7 

II.     The  Outfit 14 

III.  The  Objects          ....  20 

IV.  Home  Experiments       ...  26 
V.  Cochituate  Water         ...  33 

VI.  Interesting  objects        ...  39 

VII.  The  Brickmaker            ...  46 

VIII.  The  Vorticellas     ....  54 

IX.  The  Utricularia     ....  61 

X.  Free  Swimming  Animalcules         .  70 

XI.  On  the  Beach        ....  78 

XII.  Rizopods      .         .        .        .        .  86 

XIII.  How  to  See  a  Dandelion      .        .  97 

XIV.  How  to  See  a  Bumble  Bee    .        .  107 
XV.  Some  Little  Things  to  See    .        .  114 


M352730 


PART  I 
THROUGH  A  MICROSCOPE 

BY  SAMUEL  WELLS 


THROUGH  A  MICROSCOPE 


AN  object  one  hundredth  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
or  of  which  it  would  take  one  hundred  placed 
side  by  side  to  make  an  inch,  is  about  the  smallest 
thing  that  can  be  easily  seen  by  the  unassisted  eye. 
Take  a  piece  of  card  and 
punch  a  little  hole  through 
it  with  the  point  of  a 


FIG.    I. 


small  needle,  hold  it  towards  a  lamp  or  a  window,  and 
you  will  see  the  light  through  it. 

This  hole  will  be  about  the  size  just  mentioned, 


8  .   THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

and  you  will  find  that  you  can  see  it  best  and  most 
distinctly  when  you  hold  it  at  a  certain  distance  from 
your  eye ;  and  this  distance  will  not  be  far  from  ten 
inches,  unless  you  are  near-sighted.  Now  bring  it 
towards  your  eye  and  you  will  find  it  becomes  blurred 
and  indistinct.  You  will  see  by  this  experiment  that 
you  cannot  see  things  distinctly  when  held  too  close 
to  your  eye,  or  in  other  words,  that  you  cannot  bring 
your  eye  nearer  to  an  object  than  eight  or  ten  inches 
and  see  it  well  at  the  same  time. 

You  could  see  things  much  smaller  than  one  hun- 
dreth  of  an  inch  if  you  could  get  your  eye  close 
enough  to  them.  How  can  that  be  done  ?  By  a  mi- 
croscope ?  yes,  but  what  is  that  ?  This  name  comes 
from  two  Greek  words  that  mean  "to  see  small 
things;"  and  a  microscope  is  an  instrument  by  which 
your  eye  can  get  very  close  to  what  you  want  to  see. 

To  understand  this,  take  out  one  of  your  eyes  and 
look  at  it  with  the  other  one.  You  see  that  it  is  a 
little  round  camera ;  most  boys  have  seen  a  camera 
and  some  boys  can  make  one.  The  simplest  way  to 
do  that  is  to  take  a  box,  say  a  cigar  box  (  empty,  of 
course);  pull  off  the  cover  and  fasten  in  the  place  of 


THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE.  Q 

it  a  piece  of  ground  glass  if  you  have  one :  if  not  a 
piece  of  white  letter  paper,  oiled,  will  do ;  bore  a  hole 
in  the  middle  of  the  bottom  with  a  small  gimlet  and 
your  camera  is  done.  Point  the  bottom  with  the 
hole  in  it  out  of  the  window,  and  throw  a  piece  of 
cloth  over  your  head  and  over  the  box,  as  the  pho- 
tographers do,  to  shut  out  the  side  light,  but  mind  and 
not  cover  up  the  hole ;  look  at  the  ground  glass  (or 
oiled  paper)  and  you  will  see  things  upside  down. 
(Fig.  i.)  But  what  has  it  to  do  with  my  eye  ?  you 
say.  Why,  your  eye  is  just  like  it,  only  round,  as 
in  fig.  2.  And  if  you  hold  a  doll  or  anything 
else  about  ten  inches  in  front  of  the  eye  you  have 
taken  out  and  look  at  the  inside  of  it  ( the  eye,  not 
the  doll)  just  as  you  look  at  the  ground  glass  of  your 
box  camera,  you  will  see  the  doll  upside  down  on 
the  back  of  the  eye. 

But  how,  do  you  say,  can  I  see  things  right  side  up 
when  they  are  upside  down  in  my  eye?  This  is  a 
very  good  conundrum  and  it  will  keep  a  long  time, 
till  you  are  about  seventy  years  old  and  have  spare 
time  to  sit  down  and  think  about  it. 

Now  you  see  how  your  eye  is  a  camera ;  the  pupil 


10  THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE 

is  the  hole  and  the  back  of  the  eye,  called  the  retina, 
is  the  ground  glass. 

But  you  will  find  that  the  camera  you  have  just 
made  does  not  show  things  distinctly  and  beautifully 
as  the  photographer's  camera  does ;  how  can  they  be 
distinct  in  the  eye  then  ? 

Because  in  the  photographer's  camera,  in  the  hole 
is  a  lens,  which  is  a  piece  of  glass,  shaped  like  a  sun 
glass;  and  so  in  your  eye  just  behind  the  pupil  is  a 
lens,  not  made  of  glass,  but  still  almost  as  transparent 
as  if  it  were.  In  order  to  see  what  effect  this  lens  has, 
take  your  box  camera,  make  the  hole  larger  and  put 
a  lens  in  it ;  one  of  your  magic  lantern  lenses  will  do ; 
and  if  the  lens  has  the  right  focus  you  will  see  the 
images  sharp  and  distinct  on  your  ground  glass.  The 
focus  probably  will  not  be  just  right,  so  make  a  paper 
tube,  into  which  fasten  your  lens  and  slide  the  tube  in 
and  out  of  the  hole  until  you  find  the  right  focus. 

When  you  have  got  that  right  so  that  you  see  a  boy 
on  the  sidewalk  upside  down  and  see  his  teeth  when 
he  laughs,  put  some  small  object,  the  little  doll  will 
do,  about  three  feet  in  front  of  your  lens,  and  you  will 
find  the  image  of  it  is  blurred  and  indistinct,  and  that 


THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE.  II 

you  must  pull  your  tube  out  to  get  the  focus  on  the 
doll;  or  if  you  had  another  lens  of  just  the  right 
shape  to  hold  in  front  of  your  camera,  you  would 
with  that  get  the  focus  on  the  doll. 

Thus  you  can  see  how  it  is  with  your  eye,  and  why 


you  cannot  see  things  distinctly  held  close  to  it.  The 
lens  in  the  eye  can  change  its  shape  a  little,  so  that 
it  will  focus  objects  a  mile  off,  or  ten  inches  off,  but 
it  cannot  be  pushed  in  and  out  like  the  tube  in  your 
camera.  You  can  do  this,  however,  if  you  take 
another  lens  and  hold  it  outside  your  eye  and  let  the 
light  go  through  that  first  before  it  comes  to  the  lens 
in  your  eye,  and  in  this  way  you  can  get  a  focus  in 
your  retina,  and  the  outside  lens  thus  forms  a  part  of 
that  optical  iustrument  called  your  eye.  Does  your 
grandma  know  that  her  spectacles  are  a  part  of  the 
cameras  that  she  calls  her  eyes  ? 


12  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

How  is  it  that  a  lens  bends  (refracts  is  the  big 
word  for  it )  the  rays  of  light  ?  You  will  learn  by 
and  by.  You  can  see  that  it  does  so  by  a  few  ex- 
periments with  your  sun  glass  or  any  such  lens.  Hold 
it  between  the  sun  and  a  piece  of  white  paper  until 
the  white  spot  in  the  centre  is  as  small  as  you  can 
make  it.  You  will  see  that  the  rest  of  the  lens  casts 
a  shadow  although  it  is  all  glass ;  this  is  because  the 
rays  of  sunlight  that  fall  on  the  lens  are  all  bent 
towards  the  centre,  and  so  you  have  a  small  white 
spot  on  which  is  concentrated  the  light  and  the  heat, 
and  before  you  have  found  out  how  it  is  all  done,  your 
paper  takes  fire  and  the  experiment  ends  in  smoke. 

Take  another  piece  of  paper,  and  when  the  white 
spot  is  at  its  smallest,  measure  the  distance  between 
the  lens  and  the  paper,  and  you  will  have  the  focal  dis- 
tance of  the  lens. 

You  have  now  found  out  how  to  get  your  eye  close 
to  an  object  and  see  something  that  is  very  small ;  this 
is  usually  called  magnifying  it,  because  it  seems  to 
make  it  look  large.  Suppose  you  have  a  lens  that 
will  let  you  see  a  flea  through  it  held  just  one  inch 
from  it,  this  lens  is  now  an  addition  to  your  eye,  as 


THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE.  13 

we  measure  from  the  lens.  If  you  had  another  flea 
held  ten  inches  off,  so  big  that  it  would  just  be  hid- 
den by  the  little  flea,  the  one  farthest  off  would  be 
ten  times  as  large  as  the  near  one.  (Fig.  3.)  In 
this  case  it  is  said  that  the  lens  having  a  focal  length 
of  one  inch  magnifies  ten  times,  or  has  a  power  of  ten. 


FIG.  3. 

The  shortest  usual  distance  of  objects  seen  dis- 
tinctly being  taken  as  ten  inches,  microscopists  have 
agreed  to  consider  that  as  the  standard  of  measure- 
ment, and  objects  seen  through  a  lens  are  considered 
magnified  to  the  size  they  would  have  if  projected 
ten  inches  off,  like  our  little  flea. 


II.  — THE  OUTFIT. 


N 


"OW  that  we  have  got  hold  of 
the  idea  that  the  eye  is  an 
optical    instrument,   and    that    to 
increase    its    capacity    for    seeing 
small  things  we  add  to  it  other  op- 
tical  contrivances,  making  with  it 
one  instrument  composed  of  sever- 
al parts,   let  us   look  at  such  additions   more   par- 
ticularly. 

One  pleasant  September  afternoon,  three  gen- 
tlemen were  strolling  along  the  banks  of  the  Wis- 
sahickon,  in  Philadelphia's  beautiful  park,  and 
stopping  now  and  then  to  examine  some  little 
flower  or  insect  with  pocket  lenses,  when  they 
discovered  that  some  little  boys  out  for  a  holiday 
were  watching  their  proceedings  with  a  curi- 

M 


THE  OUTFIT. 


ous  and  mystified  interest.  One  of  the  gentlemen 
had  a  pocket  microscope  with  three  lenses  of  dif- 
erent  sizes,  as  in 
Fig.  i.  Calling  the 
boys  up  to  him  he 
showed  them  a  lit- 
tle flower  magnified. 
They  had  never 
dreamed  of  such  a 

sight,   and   their  wonder   and   amazement  were   as 

great  as  if  they  sudden- 
ly beheld  a  new  world. 
You  will  be  as  surprised 
as  they  were  when  you 
take  your  first  peep,  but 
you  must  learn  to  see 
such  things  by  yourselves. 

FIG.  3.  —OPEN  AND  CLOSED.  The  first  thing  you  need 
is  a  simple  microscope,  that  is,  one  with  a  single  lens, 
small  enough  to  be  carried  in  the  pocket.  There 
are  different  forms  and  sizes  of  such  microscopes, 
varying  in  quality  and  price.  Those  like  the 
one  just  mentioned  are  made  with  from  one  to 


i6 


THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE. 


four      lenses 
haps   the    most 
generally  useful. 
Then    there    is 
the       Codding- 
ton  lens  (Fig. 
2)    which    is 
still    more 
compact ;     and 
it  is  sometimes 
made     in     the 


each,  and  are  per- 


F1G      4. 

form  of  Fig.  3.  It 
has  a  very  short 
focus,  and  is  not, 
therefore,  very  easy 
to  use.  Achromatic 
doublets  and  triplets 
are  made  of  two  or 


FIG.    5. 


THE    OUTFIT.  17 

more  lenses  cemented  together  and  mounted  in  the 
same  style  as  the  Coddington  lens ;  they  are  very  much 
better  than  he  Coddington,  but  are  more  expensive. 

There  are  several  devices  for  mounting  these  sim- 
ple microscopes  on  stands 
so  that   they  can   be   kept 
steady  and  the  objects   to 
be  examined  placed  behind 
them.     One  of  these  is  illus- 
trated in  Fig.  4.     An  ingeni- 
ous boy  with  a  block  of  wood 
for  a  base,  some  stout  wire 
and   corks,    can 
make  one  almost 
as  useful,  though 
not    so   hand- 
some. 

A  more  elabo- 
rate form    is 
shown  in  Fig. 
5.      It   has   a 

glass  stage  to  FIG.  6. 

hold  transparent  objects,  and  a  brass  one  for  opaque 


l8  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

objects,  and  a  mirror  below  to  reflect  light  up  through 
transparent  objects. 

It  is  much  better  to  use  a  good  simple  microscope 
than  a  poor  and  cheap  compound  one  ;  be  sure  and 
remember  this  and  not  be  enticed  to  buy  such  an  one 
by  any  representations  as  to  its  great  magnifying  power. 

A  compound  microscope  is  one  with  a  tube  from 
four  to  ten  inches  long,  an  arrangement  for  holding 
the  object  to  be  looked  at,  and  a  mirror  below  to 
reflect  light  upon  or  through  it.  The  lenses  at  the  end 
next  the  object  are  small,  and  are  set  in  a  small  brass 
tube,  which  is  called  an  "  objective."  It  screws  into 
the  large  tube.  The  lenses  at  the  end  of  the  large  tube 
next  the  eye  are  set  in  a  tube,  called  the  eye-piece, 
which  slides  in  and  out  of  the  large  tube.  Different 
objectives  contain  lenses  of  different  sizes  according  to 
the  magnifying  power  desired,  and  they  are  named 
"two  inch,"  "one  inch,"  "half  inch,"  and  so  on  down 
to  "  one  seventy-fifth."  Eye-pieces  are  sometimes 
named  "  A,"  "  B,"  "  C,"  but  more  properly  "  two  inch," 
and  so  on  down  to  "  one  eighth."  There  is  a  very 
great  variety  in  the  forms  of  compound  microscopes, 
from  the  very  simple  up  to  the  very  elaborate,  and 


THE   OUTFIT. 


the  prices  vary  accordingly.     A   simple   but   useful 
form  is  given  in  Fig.  6. 

A  great  deal  of  money  can  be  expended  on  a 
microscope  and  the  various  instruments  made  to  use 
with  it  and  which  are  called  "  accessory  apparatus  "  ; 
but  it  is  best  not  to  buy  these  instruments  until  you 
know  just  what  you  want,  and  not  to  spend  much  mon- 
ey at  first  except  under  the  advice  of  a  "  microscopist." 

Some  simple  things,  however,  you  will  need  at  once, 
such  as  a  few  slips  of  glass  three  inches  long  and 
one  inch  wide, 
called  "glass 
slides,"  some 
pieces  of  very 
thin  glass, 
called  "cover 
glass,"  a  pair  of 
tweezers,  some 
needles  fast- 
ened into  pen- 
holders for  handles,  and  a  few  glass  tubes  commonly 
called  "pipettes,"  or  "dipping tubes."  These  can  be 
readily  bought,  and  some  of  them  easily  made. 


CATCHING   ANIMALCULA   WITH   A    PIPETTE. 


III.  —  OBJECTS. 

A  S  soon  as  you  have  a  microscope  you  will  begin  to 
~  f"  look  at  everything  and  anything :  dust,  crumbs 
of  bread,  flour,  starch,  mosquitoes,  flies,  and  moth  mil- 
lers in  their  season ;  flowers  and  leases,  cotton,  wool, 
and  silk.  But  this  scattering  kind  of 
observation  wil  soon  weary  you.  In 
order  to  get  the  greatest  pleasure 
and  best  results  from  your  work,  you 
must  proceed  with  some  system. 

There  are  so  many  objects  visible 
only  through  the  microscope  that  life 
is  not  long  enough  for  you  to  see 
them  all,  much  less  to  study  them. 
BULL'S  EYE  LENS.   Some  microscopists  devote  the  time 
they  have  for   such   studies   to   the 
observation  of  single  classes  of  objects ;  the  physi- 

20 


OBJECTS. 


21 


cian  observes  the  various  parts  of  the  animal  struct- 
ure, and  calls  his  work  "histology;"    the    botanist 

examines  the 
vegetable  king- 
dom ;  the  en- 
tomologist, in- 
sects ;  but  in  all 
these  depart- 
ments there  are 
numerous  sub- 


MAGNIFIED     50  DIAMETERS. 


divisions.      As 


a  guide  to  your  work,  you  will  find  some  book  on  the 
microscope  very  useful ;  the  best  one  is  The  Microscope 
and  its  Revelations,  by  Dr.  William  B.  Carpenter. 

Objects  through  which  you  can  see 
light  are  called  "  transparent,"  and 
are  the  easiest  to  look  at  with  the 
microscope,  because  you  can  lay  them 
on  a  glass  slide  and  throw  light  up  FLY'S  EYE~ 5  DI' 

AMETERS* 

through  them  with  your  mirror.     Thick 
objects  through  which  light  cannot  pass  are  called 
"  opaque,"  and  are  more  difficult    to  examine,   and 
can  only  be  seen  with  low  powers  and  a  bright  light. 


22 


THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 


In  order  to  see  such  objects  in  the  evening,  you 
will  need  a  "  bull's  eye  "  lens  mounted  on  a  stand, 
which  you  can  place  beside  your  microscope  and 
between  the  lamp  and  the  stage,  condensing  the  light 
of  the  lamp  on  the  object.  (-/%".  i.)  There  are  other 


MAGNIFIED   2OO   DIAMETERS. 


methods  of  illuminating  opaque  objects,  but  they  are 
expensive  and  difficult  to  manage,  yet  by  and  by  if 
you  persevere  in  this  delightful  occupation  you  will 
learn  what  they  are. 

Some  persons  will  expect  you  to  show  them  a  fly  as 
big  as  a  horse ;  but  you  will  soon  be  able  to  prove  to 


OBJECTS.  23 

them  that  you  know  more  about  the  matter  than  they 
do.  With  a  large  hand-lens,  you  can  see  a  whole  fly 
at  once  and  magnify  it  two  or  three  times  ;  but  when 
you  put  it  on  the  stage  of  your  compound  microscope 


: 


HEAD   OF   MOSQUITO.      MAGNIFIED    1 5    DIAMETERS. 

and  try  to  magnify  it  still  more,  you  will  find  that 
you  can  only  see  a  part  of  it  at  a  time,  and  the 
higher  the  power  you  use,  the  less  can  you  see ;  in 


THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 


other  words,  the  more   you  magnify  an  object,  the 
smaller  is  the  field  of  view. 

An  inch-objective  will  show  the  head  of  an  house- 
fly, which   in   a    bright 
light  is  a  very  beautiful 
object.    No  picture  can 
equal  the  delicacy  of  the 
color  of    the  eyes  of   a 
live  fly. 

After  a  little  practise 
you  will  be  able  to  sepa- 
rate the  different  parts 
of  insects  and  look  at 
them  with  higher  powers. 
The  moth  fly  will  soon 
be  on  the  wing,  and  your 
aunt  will  not  call  you 
cruel  if  you  kill  and  cut 
up  large  numbers  of 
them.  Put  a  little  of 

SECTION    OF    WOOD. 

the   dust   that  comes   off        MAGNIFIED  50  DIAMETERS. 
from  the  wing  of  a  moth  on  a  glass  slide,  look  at  it 
with  a  high  power,  and  you  will  find  that  each  particle 


OBJECTS.  25 

of  dust  is  a  pretty  leaf-like  scale.  You  have  seen 
in  summer  the  dust  on  the  wings  of  butterflies; 
remember  this,  and  look  at  this  butterfly  dust  with 
your  microscope. 

Flowers  and  leaves  you  can  always  easily  obtain  ; 
but  in  looking  at  them  you  must  remember  what 
has  already  been  said  about  "  transparent "  and 
"  opaque  "  objects. 

Thin  slices  or  sections  of  stems,  leaves,  and  por- 
tions of  flowers,  can  be  made  with  a  sharp  knife, 
and  examined  as  transparent  objects,  so  that  thus 
you  can  observe  the  internal  or  cellular  structure  of 
the  vegetable  kingdom. 


IV.  — HOME  EXPERIMENTS. 


D' 


CURING  the  cold  weather  it  is 
not  pleasant  to  make  excur- 
sions into  the  country  and  search 
for  objects  for  the  microscope;  so 
you  will  look  about  and  see  what  you 
can  -find  at  home;  and  if  you  live  in 
Boston,  Cochituate  water  will  invite  your 
inspection.  The  best  way  to  get  at  the 
minute  objects  in  this  or  any  water  that  is 
supplied  through  pipes,  is  to  make  a  bag  of 
cotton  cloth,  not  too  fine,  well  washed  in 
water  without  soap,  about  a  foot  long, 
large  enough  at  the  top  to  slip  over  a  faucet  that  has 
a  screw  on  it  (like  the  common  kitchen  faucet 
adapted  for  a  filter),  so  that  it  can  be  tied  with  a 
string,  and  small  enough  at  the  bottom  to  be  tied  on 

to   the   neck  of  a  small  bottle   such  as  is  used  for 
26 


HOME    EXPERIMENTS.  27 

homoeopathic  pills.     This  bag  should  taper  gradually 
in  size  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.     (Fig.  i.) 
If  there  is  a   strong   head  of  water  where   your 


TIG.    2.    CVCLOi'S   QUADR1CORNIS.      MAGNIFIED    2O    DIAMETERS. 

faucet  is,  you  must  reduce  the  pressure  by  opening 
other  faucets  on  the  same  floor,  such  as  those  in  the 

% 

laundry,  otherwise  many  of  the  small  creatures  will 
be  crushed  in  the  interstices  of  the  bag.    Now  let  the 


28  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

water  run.  The  bag  will  swell  out  and  the  water 
ooze  through  its  sides,  and  all  objects  too  small  to 
pass  through  it  will  fall  down  and  settle  in  the  little 
bottle  at  the  bottom.  When  you  see  that  there  is  a 
considerable  amount  of  sediment  in  the  bottle,  shut 
off  the  water  and  gently  squeeze  the  bag  between  your 


FIG.    3.      CANTHOCAMPTUS    MINUTUS.      40    DIAMETERS. 

thumb  and  forefinger,  beginning  at  the  top  and  mov- 
ing your  hand  down  towards  the  bottle.  This  move- 
ment will  cause  much  of  the  sediment  that  has 
adhered  to  the  sides  of  the  bag  to  fall  down.  Now 
untie  your  bottle  and  set  it  aside  and  let  the  water 
run  through  the  bag  to  clean  it.  If  you  have  a  filter 
attached  to  your  kitchen  faucet  you  can  get  a  very 


HOME    EXPERIMENTS. 


29 


FIG.   4.      CHYDORUS    SPHCERICUS. 
50    DIAMETERS. 


good  idea  of  the  solid  contents  of  the  w^ter  by  un- 
screwing it,  or  turning 
it  over  if  it  is  made  so 
as  to  reverse,  and  let- 
ting the  sediment  that 
has  collected  on  it  drip 
into  a  tumbler,  but  the 
bag  gives  much  better 
results,  as  many  of  the 
delicate  forms  that  live 
in  the  water   are   crushed    to   death   on    the   filter. 
Having  got  the  sediment  in  either  a  tumbler  or  a  bot- 
tle, you  must  make  your  first  observation  on  it  with 
the  naked  eye  by  holding  it  up  to  the  light  and  look- 
ing through  it.      You  will  find  it  of  a  brown  color, 
because  a  large  part  of  it  consists  of  particles  of  earth 
and  decayed  vegetable  matter,  but  you  will  presently 
see  many  little  white  specks  moving  about  with  a 
jumping  or  hopping  movement.    These  are  commonly 
called  "water-fleas,"    on  account   of   their  peculiar 
movements,   but   the   name   is  misleading,   as   they 
belong  to  the  Crustacea  (animals  having  a  shell  or 
crust  like  the  lobster),  and  not  to  the  insects. 


30  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

They  are  found  abundantly  in  ponds  and  ditches, 
and  in  salt  water.  Sometimes  they  are  so  abundant 
in  drinking  water  that  has  not  been  filtered,  as  to 
alarm  a  timid  person,  but  you  will  find  them  just  as 
good  to  eat  raw  as  they  are  cooked.  The  most  com- 
mon of  these  little  creatures  is  the  Cyclops  Quadri- 
cornis,  so  called  because  he  has  one  eye  and  four 
horns.  (Fig.  2.) 

This  picture  represents  a  female,  and  she  carries 
her  eggs  in  the  two  little  black  bags  that  you  see 
fastened  on  each  side  of  the  abdomen.  You  will  find 
it  very  interesting  by  and  by  to  watch  the  eggs  hatch 
and  see  the  little  cyclops  hop  away.  When  young 
they  do  not  look  much  like  their  parents ;  they  are 
rounder  and  their  legs  are  more  prominent.  The  fe- 
male cyclops  (the  male  is  comparatively  rare)  is  the 
most  common  creature  in  Cochituate  water,  and  as  it 
is  constantly  eating,  it  helps  to  purify  the  water,  and, 
in  its  turn,  is  eaten  by  the  fishes. 

In  swimming  it  contracts  its  four  horns  and  its 
fringed  feet  with  a  quick  movement  that  throws  it 
forward  through  the  water  with  a  leap. 

Its  one  eye  is  of  a  brilliant  red,  and  is  a  beautiful 


HOME    EXPERIMENTS.  31 

object  under  the  microscope.    The  shell  also  is  some- 
times beautifully  colored,  and  is  often  transparent,  so 
that  the  internal  organs  are  plainly  visible  through  it. 
Another  of  the  family  of  Cyclopidce  is  the  Cantho- 


FIG.  5. 

camptus  miniitus  (fig.  3),  which  you  see  is  longer  and 
more  tapering  in  its  form  than  the  Cyclops  Quadri- 
cornis.  It  is  also  very  common  and  very  active. 

Chydorus  Sph&ricus  (fig.  4)  is  a  very  pretty  round 
form  interesting  to  study  when  transparent. 

All  these  and  some  others  with  rather  hard  names 
are  in  that  division  of  the  Crustacea  called  Entomos- 
traca,  meaning  shelled  creatures  whose  shells  are  cut 
and  do  not  cover  them  all  round.  On  this  principle, 
an  oyster  on  the  half-shell  might  be  called  an  Ento- 
mostracan. 

Now  to  catch  these  lively  fellows,  you  must  take  a 
dipping  tube  and  be  patient,  and  when  you  have  got 
one  in  the  tube,  carefully  drop  it  on  the  bottom  of 
the  "  live-box  "  (fig.  5),  and  put  on  the  cover.  Ex- 


32  THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE. 

amine  it  first  with  the  lowest  power  you  have.  By 
careful  management  of  the  cover  you  can  catch  it  be- 
tween the  top  and  bottom  without  breaking  the  shell, 
and  in  this  prison  you  can  study  it  at  leisure. 


V.  —  COCHITUATE  WATER. 

'\/rOU  have  read  or  been  told  that  if  you  look  at 
a    drop   of  water  through  a  microscope    you 
will   find    it   full  of   animalculae,  and   showmen    will 
sometimes  exhibit  water  containing  ento- 
mostraca  hopping  about,  and  will  try  to 
persuade  you  that  all  water  looks  in  the 
same  way. 

But  this  is  a  common  mistake,  as  you 
will  soon  find  out  for  yourselves.  Water 
such  as  is  commonly  used  for  drinking 
purposes,  whether  it  comes  from  a  well, 
spring,  river,  or  pond,  contains  but  little 
animal  or  vegetable  life  in  proportion 
to  its  .quantity:  you  may  place  drop  after 

ROTIFER  VUL- 

drop  under  the  microscope  without  find- 
ing anything  visible,  and  you  can  only  tell  what  is  in  it 
by  filtering  a  great  deal  of  it.    Water  standing  in  ditches 
or  pools  for  a  long  time,  becomes  full  of  growth  of 
33 


34 


THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE. 


various  kinds,  and  is  then  so  discolored  and  slimy 
that  no  one  would  think  of  drinking  it. 
Let  us  return  to  the  little  bottle 
which  you  filled  with  Cochituate  filter- 
ings last  month.  Take  a  little  from 
the  bottom  with  your  dipping-tube ; 
put  it  in  the  live  box  and  examine  it 
with  a  half-inch  objective.  You  will 
see  many  forms  that  are  strange  to 

i  .„  ,       ^     ,          r  CARAPACE     OF 

you,  and  we  will  suppose  that  the  first  ANUR.E 

STIPITATA. 

is  that  of  one  of  the  rotifers.     These 

little  creatures  are 
called  by  this  name 
because  of  two  Latin 
words  meaning  wheel- 
carriers,  for  on  their 
heads  they  have  an 
arrangement  which 
looks  like  a  wheel, 
sometimes  in  rapid 
motion. 
The  most  common  kind  is  called  Rotifer  vulgaris 

(jig,  i),  and  is  a  very  interesting  and  elastic  being. 


FLOSCULARIA    ORNATA. 


COCHITUATE     WATER. 


35 


Sometimes  he  is  gloomy  and  draws  himself  in  so 
that  he  looks  like  a  ball ;  then  he  will  stretch  out  full 
length,  and  opening  his  wheel, 
shoot  through  the  water  with 
great  speed.  Again  he  will 
attach  his  tail  to  some  fixed 
object,  and  by  the  aid  of  his 
wheel  draw  a  rapid  current  of 
water  through  his  mouth ;  it 
.  is  thus  that  you  can  best  ob- 
serve him,  and  by  and  by  you 
will  discover  that  the  apparent  DINOBRYON  TORTULA- 

RIA. 

wheel   is   only  a  result  of  the 

rapid  sweeping  movement  of  the  long  hairs  or 
cilia  which  fringe  the  opening  in  the  top  of  the 
head.  Through  this  opening  the  water  passes,  the 
rotifer  gathers  his  food  from  the  current,  and  the 
food  passes  into  the  mastax,  where  it  is  ground 
by  the  masticating  apparatus,  which  is  easily  seen  in 
motion. 

There  are  several  different  rotifers  found  in 
Cochituate  water;  among  them  the  most  common 
is  the  Anurce  Stipitata.  (Fig.  2.)  It  is  like  a  turtle, 


36  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

with  a  shell,  or  carapace,  beautifully  ornamented. 
You  will  see  plenty  of  these  empty  shells,  and  some- 
times you  will  find  one  inhabited,  when  you  will  see 
that  the  creature  has  a  bright  red  eye,  and  several 
bundles  of  cilia,  in  front  of  the  projecting  spires. 

One  of  the  families  of  the  rotifers  is  called 
Floscularia,  because  it  resembles  a  flower  ;  it  is 
attached  at  the  base  to  small  plants,  or  algae,  and 
occupies  a  sheath  so  transparent  that  it  is  hardly 
visible.  One  species  is  occasionally  found  in  the 
Cochituate,  the  Floscularia  ornata.  {Fig.  3.)  It  is  a 
beautiful  object,  with  its  elongated  radiating  cilia, 
which  remain  quiet,  and  do  not  vibrate.  The 
specimen  figured  has  three  eggs  attached  to  its 
stem. 

You  will  find  other  rotifers  in  the  Cochituate,  some 
formed  like  vases,  others  with  long  spires,  but  all 
graceful  and  beautiful.  The  Dinobryon  Tortularia  is 
sometimes  very  common  in  this  water. 

In  October,  1881,  when  the 'taste  of  the  water  was 
very  bad,  the  Dinobryon  was  very  abundant,  though 
we  do  not  know  that  it  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
bad  taste.  You  will  see  by  the  figure,  that  it  is  like  a 


COCHITUATE    WATER.  37 

tree,  with  an  individual  of  the  family  at  the  end  of 
every  branch.  Each  one  has  its  own  organs  of 
existence,  although  attached  to  its  brothers  by  its 
stem.  Each  has  a  bright  red  eye,  and  a  long  slender 
whip,  called  a  flagellum,  with  which  it  lashes  the 
water,  and  when  all  the  flagella  are  in  motion,  the 
whole  tree  swims  about.  The  individuals  are  very 
small  indeed,  and  it  will  take  your  best  objective  to 
show  the  flagellum. 
Another  tree-like 
group  is  that  of 
the  Vorticella,  of 
which  you  will 
sometimes  find  in 
the  Cochituate,  the 
species  Vorticella 
nebulifera.  Each  an- 

VORTICELLA   NEBULIFERA. 

imal  is  at  the  top  of 

a  stem,  and  this  stem  has  the  peculiar  property  of 
being  able  to  coil  up  and  draw  its  head  down 
close  to  the  bottom.  This  appears  to  be  a  defen- 
sive movement,  for  whenever  a  big  ugly  creature 
comes  by,  down  go  the  whole  family  so  quickly 


38  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

that  your  eye  cannot  follow  the  movement.  Some- 
times they  will  all  bob  down  when  you  tap  the  stage 
of  the  microscope  so  as  to  jar  them.  At  a  certain 
period  of  its  life  the  animal  suddenly  leaves  its  stem, 
and  goes  swimming  about  with  great  speed. 


VI.  —  INTERESTING  OBJECTS. 


HT^HE  most  beautiful  of  the  small  alga  or  water 
•*"  plants  are  the  Diatomacece  and  the  Desmi- 
diaceoe,  sometimes  called  for  brevity  diatoms  and 
desmids.  They  are  remarkable  for  the  geometrical 
character  of  their  forms,  consisting  of  circles,  trian- 
gles and  polygons  of  infinite  variety.  They 
are  very  small,  and  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
seen  with  an  objective  of  less  power  than 
a  four  tenths.  The  diatoms  are  found  every- 
where in  both  fresh  and  salt  water,  but 

STEPHANO- 

the  desmids  live  only  in  fresh  water.    One      DISCUS 
of  the  most  common  diatoms  in  Cochituate    NIAGAR(E- 
water  is  the  Stephano  discus  Niagara.     (Fig.  i  .)     It  is 
in  shape  like  a  pill  box,  and   its  sides,  which  would 
be  called  its  top  and  bottom  if  it  were  a  pill  box,  are 
beautifully  ornamented  with  dots  in  radiating  lines 
with   a  ring  of  spines  near  the  edge.      This  circle 
39 


THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 


of  spines  or  thorns  explains  its  name,  Stephanodiscus, 
from  the  proto-martyr,  Saint  Stephen.  The  name 
Niagara  is  from  Niagara  River, 
where  it  was  found.  Like  all 
diatoms,  it  contains  when 
alive  a  yellowish  brown  matter 
with  small  globules  of  oil, 
which  is  called  endochrome. 
The  box  or  shell, 


ASTERIONELLA  BLEAK-      is  of  silex   or  quartz,  and    is 

LEYII. 

therefore  almost  indestructible  ; 
and  when  the  diatom  dies,  sinks  to 
the  bottom  of  the  water.  In  this  way 
beds  of  shells  of  diatoms  are  some- 
times formed  of  considerable  thick- 
ness. 

Under  the  city  of  Richmond,  Va., 
there  is  such  a  deposit,  varying  from 
ten  to  twenty  feet  in  depth,  and  ex-  TABELLARIA 

FENESTRATA. 

tending  for  many  miles.      Some  of  the 
diatoms,  especially  those  shaped  like  a  boat,  called 
Navicula,  have  a  peculiar  motion  which  at  one  time 
led    observers    to   think    them   animals.      No    one 


SPONGILLA     FLUVIATILIS. 


INTERESTING   OBJECTS.  43 

knows  how  this  motion  is  produced,  and  if  you  can 
find  this  out,  you  will  make  a  very  important  dis- 
covery. The  most  common  diatom  in  Cochituate 
water  is  Asterionella  Bleakleyii.  It  resembles  a  star 
with  rays,  or  the  hub  and  spokes  of  a  wheel. 
(Fig.  2.)  This  diatom  is  often  found  in  abundance 
in  the  water  supplies  of  cities.  It  never  forms  a 
complete  circle,  but  grows  into  spirals  or  whorls 
which  easily  break  up. 

Another  diatom  common  in  Cochituate  is  Tabellaria 
Fenestrata,  which  grows  in  ribbon-like  forms.  (  Fig.  3.) 
The  desmids  re- 
semble the  dia- 
toms in  the  geo- 
metrical     char-       DESMIDIUM  SWARTZII.    FRONT  AND  SIDE 

VIEW. 
acter    of    their 

forms,  but  they  have  no  shell  of  silex,  and  are 
therefore  easily  destroyed.  They  are  readily  dis- 
tinguished at  sight  by  the  beautiful  green  color 
of  the  contained  matter.  In  many  of  them  there 
is  a  curious  circulation  of  small  particles,  espe- 
cially in  the  ends  of  those  of  a  crescent  or  new-moon 
shape.  This  circulation  can  only  be  seen  with  a  high 


44  THROUGH    A    MICROSCOPE. 

power.  Desmids  are  easily  found  in  ponds  and 
ditches  ;  and  there  are  several  species  in  Cochituate. 
Among  them  is  Desmidium  Swartzii  (fig.  4),  and 
Closterium  moniliferum.  (fig.  5.)  Their  beauty  de- 
pends so  much  on  color  that  they  do  not  appear  to 
advantage  in  the  figures.  You  will  find  in  examining 
the  filterings  of  Cochituate  water,  many  objects  which 
have  not  been  described  in  these  papers,  and  among 
them  many  fragments  of  green  filaments  of  the  small 

plants  belonging  to  the  con- 
ferva and  the  oscillatoritz  ; 

sometimes    you    will    find 

CLOSTERIUM    MONILIFERUM. 

small  round  opaque  forms  of 

brown  or  green  color,  which  are  probably  spores  of 
plants  of  a  larger  growth ;  sometimes  you  will  see  the 
pollen  or  pine-trees  which  has  fallen  into  the  water 
and  looks  like  three  small  balls  fastened  together; 
sometimes,  though  rarely,  you  may  find  one  of  those 
curious  little  creatures  called  water  bears,  or  tardi- 
grada ;  and  you  may  be  fortunate  enough  to  catch  a 
water  spider. 

But  you  will  often  see  the  spiculce  of  the  sponge, 
called  Spongilla  fluviatilis.     They  look  like  pins  of 


INTERESTING   OBJECTS.  45 

glass,  blunt  at  one  end  and  pointed  at  the  other,  and 
are  sometimes  very  abundant.  You  may  have  heard 
that  this  sponge  has  been  considered  the  source  of 
the  occasionally  bad  taste  and  smell  of  Cochituate 
water.  When  it  is  alive,  it  is  not  disagreeable, 
but  when  it  decays  it  imparts  to  the  water  a 
very  unpleasant  taste  and  odor.  It  certainly  is  one 
cause  of  the  bad  quality  of  the  water,  but  whether  it 
is  entitled  to  the  sole  credit  is  still  open  to  question. 

You  can  see  what  it  looks  like  in  fig.  6.  When 
alive,  it  is  of  a  light-green  color,  but  when  decayed  it 
becomes  brown.  It  is  full  of  the  spiculcz  above  de- 
scribed, which  serve  to  stiffen  it,  but  it  easily  crumbles 
and  scatters  them  through  the  water. 

Though  the  microscope  shows  us  many  beautiful 
and  interesting  objects,  yet  in  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge  we  cannot  ascertain  by  its  use  whether 
the  water  we  examine  is  harmless  or  injurious. 


.  —  THE  BRICKMAKER. 


*"T^HE  microscope  reveals  so  many  strange  odd- 
•*•  looking  water  creatures  and  plants  that  we  can 
easily  imagine  ourselves  transported  to  some  new 
world.  Look  at  this  field  of  view  as  seen  through  the 
microscope.  In  the  centre  stands  a  brickmaker.  He 
is  a  queer  little  animal,  and  so  small  that  he  looks 
like  a  mere  speck  to  the  naked  eye,  but  through  the 
microscope  we  see  how  wonderfully  curious  and 
strange  a  creature  he  is.  He  is  no  idle,  lazy  fellow. 
He  is  instead  a  most  busy  mechanic. 

Just  now  he  is  building  a  house  out  of  tiny  bricks, 
and  he  manufactures  the  bricks  himself,  making  them 
one  at  a  time,  and  when  one  is  finished  he  lays  it 
down  carefully  by  the  side  of  the  last,  and  fastens  it 
firmly  in  its  place  with  a  kind  of  cement.  The  bricks 
are  laid  in  regular  tiers  one  above  the  other. 

We  find  these  brickmakers  in  still  water  where  va- 
46 


THE   BRICKMAKER.  47 

rious  water-plants  grow,  especially  the  water-milfoil 
and  bladderwort.  They  seem  to  be  social  beings. 
They  live  in  large  communities,  attaching  their 
houses  to  the  stems  and  leaves  of  the  plants  so 
thickly  sometimes  that  they  almost  touch  one  an- 
other. They  look,  to  the  naked  eye,  like  lines  about 
one  eighth  of  an  inch  in  length.  Sometimes  they  are 
very  thick  on  the  plants  in  New  Jersey  ponds. 

If  you  take  some  of  the  plants  and  water,  and  put 
them  in  a  bottle,  you  can  carry  a  large  number  of 
the  brickmakers  home,  where  you  can  watch  them  at 
your  leisure.  Take  a  glass  slide  which  has  a  little 
cup-shaped  hollow  to  hold  a  few  drops  of  water,  and 
put  a  tiny  piece  of  the  plant  with  the  house  attached 
into  this  hollow  and  fill  it  with  some  of  the  water 
from  the  bottle.  Now  cover  it  with  a  very  thin  piece 
of  glass  and  lay  it  over  the  stage  of  the  'microscope, 
and  it  is  ready  to  be  looked  at  and  studied.  You  will 
look  with  both  eyes,  for  your  microscope  is  a  binocu- 
lar —  one  that  has  two  tubes  to  look  through.  The 
size  of  the  objects  will  depend  upon  the  magnifying 
power  you  have  chosen. 

The  first  thing  you  see  is  a  dark,  brick-colored, 


48  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

cylinder-shaped  house  which  looks  to  be  about  the 
size  of  a  cigar.  The  little  builder  who  lives  in  this 
house  has  been  disturbed  by  the  means  we  have 
taken  to  make  his  acquaintance  ;  he  has  stopped  work 
and  gone  within.  But  he  is  so  industrious  a  fellow 
that  he  will  not  remain  within  very  long.  As  soon  as 
it  is  quite  still  he  will  probably  come  to  the  door  of 
his  house,  and  you  will  see  him  thrust  out  two 
horns.  He  will  move  these  horns  to  the  right  and 
left,  cautiously  feeling  all  around  him.  He  seems 
very  cautious  indeed.  But  at  last  he  is  satisfied  that 
no  enemy  is  near.  Now  he  ventures  out.  He  unfolds 
his  wheels. 

These  wheels  are  surrounded  with  a  band  of  alia, 
or  flexible  hairs,  which  he  can  put  in  rapid  motion, 
making  the  wheels  have  the  appearance  of  revolving 
very  fast.  This  rapid  motion  of  the  cilia  forms  a 
swift  current  in  the  water ;  and  this  current  brings 
tiny  particles  of  various  things  to  the  little  mechanic. 
Some  of  these  particles  he  uses  for  food  ;  of  others, 
he  makes  brick.  They  are  carried  into  an  opening 
between  the  wheels  where  you  can  see  them  revolving 
very  fast  until  they  are  gathered  into  a  little  round, 


THE    BRICKMAKER.  49 

dark-colored  pellet.     The  particles  are  probably  held 
together  by  a  sticky  secretion  made  by  the  builder. 

It  takes  him  about  three  minutes  to  make  a  brick. 
As  soon  as  it  is  finished,  he  bends  his  head  over, 
takes  it  from  its  mould  between  the  wheels,  and  lays 
it  down  carefully  by  the  side  of  the  last.  Then  he  ' 
raises  his  head  and  begins  to  make  another.  The 
tube  thus  constructed  is  quite  firm  and  strong.  Some- 
times when  I  have  found  a  long  tube,  I  have  cut  off  a 
portion  from  the  top.  This  can  be  done,  with  care, 
for  the  brickmaker  drops  to  the  bottom  when  dis- 
turbed. It  is  very  amusing  to  watch  him  repair  dam- 
ages and  rebuild.  Sometimes  I  have  forced  one  out 
of  his  tube,  but  it  always  soon  died.  But  though 
industrious,  he  is  so  cautious,  or  timid,  that  he  is 
easily  frightened,  and  therefore  he  is  often  inter- 
rupted in  his  work.  For  instance,  like  some  people 
that  we  know,  he  is  very  afraid  of  snakes.  If  a 
harmless  little  tiny  snake  comes  wriggling  along 
through  the  water  anywhere  near  him,  he  folds  his 
wheels  and  drops  down  into  his  house  as  quick  as  a 
flash.  One  day  a  little  boy  was  delighted  with  the 
fast-revolving  wheels.  Suddenly,  by  and  by,  he  turned 


50  THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE. 


FIGURE  I,  BRICKMAKER ;  2,  CURRENT  IN  WATER  ;  3,  4,  5,  6, 
DIATOMS;  7,  8,  DESMIDS;  9,  AiGJE  ;  10,  II,  TRICHODA 
LYNCEUS;  12,  SNAKE-LIKE  LARVA;  13,  PART  OF  PLANT  TO 
WHICH  BRICKMAKER  IS  ATTACHED  J  14,  BATRACHOSPERMUM 
MONILIFORM. 

toward  me  with  great  disgust  plainly  showing  in  his 
face :  "  He's  gone  in,  'fraid  of  a  little  snake ! "  he 
exclaimed. 

He  is  always  a  great  favorite  with  those  who  have 
watched  him  through  the  microscope.    I  do  not  know 


THE    BRICKMAKER.  51 

how  long  they  live,  but  I  have  kept  the  same  individ- 
uals three  months  or  more.  I  think  no  one  knows  the 
entire  life-history  of  any  of  these  little  creatures,  so 
here  is  a  grand  chance  for  any  young  microscopist 
to  investigate  and  become  famous. 

On  the  left  of  the  brickmaker  in  our  field  of  view  is 
a  delicate,  beautiful  plant.  Only  a  small  part  of  it  is 
seen  in  the  engraving.  It  has  a  long,  floating  stem, 
thickly  set  with  rosettes  of  a  pearly  green  color.  To 
the  naked  eye  it  looks  like  green  slime,  and  is  called 
"  frog's  spawn ;  "  but  the  microscope  shows  us  that  it 
is  a  lovely  plant,  and  some  wise  man  has  given  us  a 
long  fine  name  to  call  it  by  if  we  choose  —  Batracho- 
spermum  moniliform.  Let  us  see  if  this  long  name 
has  any  meaning  :  Batrachia,  a  frog,  spermum,  spawn ; 
ah,  after  all,  only  another  name  for  frog  spawn  !  The 
other  name,  moniliform,  means  a  bead-like  necklace ; 
and  this  was  given  it  because  the  threads  that  make 
the  rosettes  look  like  strings  of  small  pearly-green 
beads. 

All  of  the  strange-looking  plants  and  animals  that 
we  see  in  the  microscope  are  known  as  well  by  sight 
and  by  name  by  those  who  make  them  a  study,  as  are 


52  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

the  larger  animals  and  plants  that  we  see  around  us 
every  day. 

A  bright  little  girl  once  asked  me  why  such  long 
hard  names  are  given  to  everything  in  nature.  We 
told  her  if  there  was  but  one  language  spoken  in  the 
world  there  would  be  no  need  of  using  Latin  names. 
But  as  there  are  many  languages,  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  agree  upon  some  system,  so  that  all  peoples  of 
different  nations  might  have  the  same  name  for  an 
animal  or  plant,  and  a  long  time  ago  all  the  civilized 
world  agreed  to  use  Latin  names.  Thus  our  little 
brickmaker  is  known  all  over  the  world  as  Melicerta 
ringens. 

"  A  field  of  view  "  depends  for  its  interest  and  va- 
riety upon  what  kind  of  water  we  put  under  the  micro- 
scope. In  the  one  here  represented,  I  first  took  a 
tiny  spray  of  plant  with  a  brickmaker's  house  attached, 
and  laid  it  on  the  hollow  glass  slide  and  then  used  the 
dipping-tube  and  brought  up  some  of  the  sediment 
from  the  bottom  of  the  bottle  ;  this  proved  to  contain 
several  singular-looking  plants  and  animals  shown 
here. 

Figures  3,  4,  5  and  6,  are  diatoms,  and  figures  7 


THE   BRICKMAKER.  53 

and  8  are  desmids.  Naturalists  formerly  placed  both 
diatoms  and  desmids  in  the  animal  kingdom,  but  now 
all  agree  that  the  desmids  are  plants,  while  some  few 
still  maintain  that  the  diatoms  are  animals.  But 
the  weight  of  evidence  is  on  the  plant  side  of  the 
question. 

The  desmids  are  wonderfully  beautiful  plants  ;  the 
markings  and  colors  are  exquisite.  A  number  of 
species  are  found  in  the  sediment  of  every  swamp  and 
pond. 

The  diatoms  often  grow  in  long  ribbon-like  masses 
(Jig.  3),  and  then  partially  separate,  remaining  joined 
together  at  the  angles  so  as  to  form  a  zigzag  chain  as 
seen  at  figure  4.  They  have  the  power  of  moving 
through  the  water,  changing  their  places  like  animals. 
A  great  variety  of  forms  are  found,  both  diatoms 
and  desmids,  many  still  undescribed,  inviting  the 
young  microscopist  to  study  and  name  them. 

Figures  10  and  u  are  different  forms  of  a  little 
animal,  Trichoda  lynceus.  It  undergoes  a  great  many 
changes.  In  some  of  its  stages,  it  looks  so  different 
from  the  figures  here  represented  that  you  would 
never  dream  of  its  being  the  same  creature. 


VIII.  —  THE  VORTICELLAS. 


T^HE  tree-vorti- 
cellas  must 
ever  stand  first 
among  all  the  varied 
and  beautiful  objects 
which  the  microscope 
reveals.  A  species 
common  in  New  Eng- 
land and  the  Middle 
States  is  known  sci- 
entifically by  the 
name  of  Carchesium 
Polypinum.  It  is  im- 

CARCHESIUM    POLYPINUM. 

possible  to  convey  a 

true  idea  of  its  beauty  from  a  dead  black  and  white 

drawing.    To  be  appreciated  it  must  be  seen  in  all 

its  living  glory — charming  little  animals  resembling 

54 


THE    VORTICELLAS.  55 

bell-shaped  lilies  on  the  ends  of  lovely  transparent 
stems. 

How  curious  nature  is  in  the  microscopic  world! 
Only  think  of  a  tree  of  living  animals  !  The  stems  of 
the  tree  are  jointed,  and  the  little  creatures  can  sway 
the  branches  about  and  even  throw  them  into  a  spiral 
coil  so  as  to  bring  themselves  near  the  main  stem. 
This  gives  them  the  appearance  of  being  very  polite 
toward  each  other ;  they  bow  and  courtesy  as  if  pre- 
paring for  a  grand  quadrille,  and  they  are  decked  out 
in  gay  colors,  red,  green,  and  yellow.  The  margins 
of  the  little  cups  are  fringed  with  hairs,  or  cilia,  which 
they  can  put  in  such  rapid  motion  that  it  makes  a 
current  in  the  water  and  brings  little  particles  to  their 
mouths  which  they  consume  as  food.  They  do  not 
accept  everything  that  comes  in  the  current.  They 
seem  to  know  what  they  like  as  well  as  the  higher 
animals,  and  act  as  if  they  were  vexed  with  some  of 
the  particles,  rejecting  and  sending  them  off  with  a 
rapid  whirling  motion. 

The  largest  of  these  fairy-like  trees  are  visible  to 
the  naked  eye  ,  but  it  will  be  necessary  for  a  novice 
in  such  matters  to  use  a  good  strong  lens  to  be  able 


56  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

to  find  them  readily.  They  are  attached  to  plants 
growing  in  water.  I  have  always  been  most 
successful  in  finding  them  among  the  water-milfoil 
(Myriophillum)  several  species  of  which  grow  in 
New  England  and  the  Middle  States.  Some  of  the 
species  are  found  in  deep  water,  others  in  shallow 
ponds. 

The  Bladderworts  ( Utricularia}  are  also  good 
plants  to  search  among.  They  grow  in  similar  places. 
On  either  of  these  plants  we  shall  be  sure  to  find  a 
good  many  interesting  creatures.  If  we  fail  to  find 
the  tree,  we  may  secure  other  species  of  vorticella,  all 
of  which  are  very  beautiful. 

Do  you  know  the  Utricularia?  I  will  devote  the 
next  chapter  to  these  curious  plants,  and  to  the  micro- 
scopic animals  which  they  capture. 

It  will  take  a  little  practice  to  learn  where  and  how 
to  collect  material  for  the  microscope.  We  should 
not  depend  too  much  upon  books  in  any  branch  of 
natural  history.  To  be  successful,  you  must  observe 
for  yourselves,  experiment  and  examine  independ- 
ently, consulting  books  that  you  may  name  and  clas- 
sify, that  you  may  recognize  and  name  what  you 


THE   VORTICELLAS.  57 

find.     If  you  fail  to  find  specimens  in  one  spot,  try 
another. 

You  should  not  fill  your  collecting  bottles  more 
than  two  thirds  full  of  water,  nor  crowd  too  many 
plants  in  them.  These  little  crea- 
tures must  have  air  in  order  to  live, 
as  well  as  the  higher^animals. 

The  finest  tree-vorticellas  I  ever 
found  were  in  Florida,  in  the  St.  John's  River. 
These  trees  were  attached  to  long,  floating  stems 
of  Myriophillum  vertirillatum,  and  were  unlike  any 
species  that  I  ever  found  at  the  North.  They 
were  very  large  —  in  a  microscopic  sense  —  plainly 
visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  it  took  only  a  moderate 
power  to  bring  out  their  beauty. 

Vorticella  nebulifera  is  quite  common  in  swamps 
and  ponds.  We  find  it  attached  to  a  great  number 
of  water  plants.  This  species  is  not  built  up  in  the 
form  of  a  tree,  but  it  is  nevertheless  beautiful  and 
graceful.  The  delicate,  slender  stems  start  from 
a  node,  or  rounded  mass,  sometimes  fifty  or  more  of 
these  fairy  like  creatures  in  one  colony,  all  attached 
to  a  common  centre,  swaying  about,  coiling  their  del- 


58  THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE. 

icate  transparent  stems,  and  again  uncoiling  quick  as 
a  flash,  apparently  dallying  and  playing,  but  never 
interfering  nor  becoming  entangled  one  with  another. 

The  Stentor  is  another  member  of  the  Vorticellintz 
family.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  infusoria, 
plainly  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  curious  of  all  the  strange  animals  in 
the  microscopic  world.  It  assumes  various  forms. 
When  swimming,  it  looks  round  and  plump  (  Fig.  2  ), 
and  rushes  through  the  water  pell-mell,  knocking  the 
smaller  animals  right  and  left,  always  seeming  to  be 
in  a  great  hurry,  unless  two  friendly  ones  happen  to 
meet,  when  they  frequently  stop  and  put  their  heads 
together  a  moment  as  if  exchanging  greetings,  then 
away  they  sail  again,  dashing  through  the  water, 
capturing  and  devouring  the  smaller  creatures  as 
they  go.  And  now  a  couple  meet  that  are  very  com- 
municative —  two  gossips,  no  doubt !  At  all  events, 
they  put  their  heads,  together  and  conclude  to  have  a 
good  sociable  time. 

And  they  are  sensible  enough  to  know  that  they 
cannot  stand  around  loose  in  the  water  or  public 
highway.  So  they  select  a  cosey  spot  and  fasten  their 


THE    VORTICELLAS.  59 

feet  to  a  plant  or  some  firm  object,  and  stretch  out 
their  footstalks  sometimes  to  a  great  length,  making 
veritable  trumpets  of  themselves.  (Fig*  3-) 

And  who  knows  what  grave  matters  may  be  settled 
during  these    conclaves?  or  perhaps  they  are  only 


THE   STENTORS.  —  "  VERITABLE   TRUMPETS." 

rehearsing  gossip,  as  they  have  had  every  possible 
chance  to  see  what  was  going  on  among  their  neigh- 
bors. 

Sometimes  one  settles  down  alone  near  a  group  of 
others,  and  seems  to  proclaim  in  stentorian  voice 
that  it  is  reception  day  and  he  is  ready  to  receive. 
Or  perhaps  he  is  simply  a  herald  as  his  name  indi- 
cates, whose  business  it  is  to  conduct  ceremonies 


60  THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE. 

and  regulate  affairs!  At  any  rate,  though  our  ears 
are  too  dull  to  catch  the  voices  of  these  curious 
beings  of  a  lower  world  —  so  near,  and  yet  in 
another  sense,  so  far  away,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
believe  that  these  animated  creatures  have  no 
means  of  communication  and  nothing  to  communi- 
cate. 


PART    II 
THROUGH    A    MICROSCOPE 

BY  MARY  TREAT 


IX,— THE  UTRICULARIA. 

TT  seems  strange  that  innocent-looking  plants 
•*•  should  capture  and  kill  animals ;  but  this  is 
really  what  the  Bladderworts  (  Utricularia)  are  all 
the  time  doing.  They  grow  in  ponds  and  swamps, 
some  species  in  deep,  still  water,  others  in  shallow 
ponds. 

Fig.  i  shows  a  portion  of  the  stem  of  Utricularia 
clandestina,  natural  size.  The  little  bladders  are  so 
nearly  transparent,  that  on  bringing  them  under  the 
microscope,  or  even  under  a  good  lens,  you  can  see 
the  numerous  creatures  that  they  have  captured,  some 
partly  consumed,  others  still  alive. 

The  bladders  on  these  curious  plants  remind  one 
of  some  of  the  Entomostracans  which  Mr.  Wells 
described  in  his  fourth  paper.  Look  at  Chydorus 
sphericus  for  instance,  and  then  at  the  magnified 
bladder  (Fig.  2)  in  this  article.  The  branched 

horns   at  the   mouth  or    entrance   have  very  much 
61 


62  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

the  appearance  of  the  antennae  of  some  of  the  mi- 
nute animals,  and  the  stem  when  it  is  attached  to  the 

main  branch  maybe 
likened  to  a  tail.  But 
the  way  in  which 
they  capture  and  de- 
vour the  pretty  little 
creatures  that  come 
within  their  grasp 
makes  them  appear, 
even  more  than  they 
look,  like  wicked 
animals. 

I  have  found  al- 
most every  swim- 
ming animalculae 
with  which  I  am 
acquainted,  caught 

riG.  I.     PORTION   OF   A   STEM   OF   UTRI- 

CULARIA    CLANDESTINA;    NATURAL     in    these    vegetable 

traps  ;      and    when 

caught  they  never  escape.  Their  entrance  is  easy 
enough  ;  there  is  a  sensitive  valve  at  the  mouth  of 
the  bladder,  which,  if  they  touch  it,  flies  open  and 


THE   UTRICULARIA.  63 

draws  them  in  as  quick  as  a  flash.  These  down- 
ward-opening bladders  not  only  entrap  animalculae, 
but,  more  wonderful  still,  the  strong  larvae  of  in- 
sects. The  larvae  most  frequently  caught  are 
those  of  the  mosquito  and  chironomus.  Often  the 
mosquito  is  caught  tail  first  —  the  entire  body  inclosed  ' 
and  the  head  left  sticking  out.  It  always  looks  as  if 
the  victim  might  walk  or  wriggle  out,  but  it  never 
does  ;  and  you  may  be  sure  that  it  never  backed  in 
there  of  its  own  accord. 

You  all  know  how  the  mosquito  larva  wriggles  in 
the  water,  and  is  known  by  the  common  name  of 
"  wriggler,"  or  sometimes  inaccurately,  "  wiggler." 
Now  just  as  sure  as  the  tail  of  this  wriggler  strikes 
the  mouth  of  the  bladder,  just  so  sure  is  he  caught  — 
drawn  in  by  some  unknown  power  quicker  than  you 
can  speak. 

There  is  yet  much  to  learn  about  these  curious 
plants.  How  it  is  that  the  valve  or  trap  can  so  firmly 
hold  these  strong  larvae  is  still  a  mystery.  I  have 
seen  a  mosquito  larva  caught  by  the  head  when  the 
first  joint  of  the  body  was  too  large  to  be  admitted 
through  the  entrance  of  the  bladder,  and  have 


64  THROUGH   A    MICROSCOPE. 

patiently  watched  its  frantic  efforts  to  escape,  but  it 
was  never  released.  The  more  it  thrashed  about,  the 
tighter  grew  the  fatal  trap  until  death  put  an  end  to 
its  struggles. 

The  chironomus  larva  is  quite  unlike  that  of  the 
mosquito.  The  chironomus  has  brush-like  feet  which 
it  can  withdraw  from  sight  —  a  sort  of  telescopic 
arrangement  —  or  extend  when  it  wishes  to  crawl 
along  the  plants,  while  the  mosquito  wriggles  and 
swims. 

The  chironomus  is  caught  more  often  even  than 
the  mosquito  larva.  At  certain  seasons  of  the  year 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  find  a  bladder  without  one 
or  more  of  these  victims  entrapped. 

They  feed  on  the  water  plants,  and  seem  to  have  a 
special  liking  for  the  long-branched  antennae  which 
grow  at  the  mouth  of  the  bladders,  and,  all  unconscious 
of  the  trap,  on,  on  they  go,  their  sickle-shaped  jaws 
cutting  the  antennas  which  they  eat  as  they  advance, 
until  their  heads  reach  the  mouth  of  the  bladder, 
when  they  heedlessly  touch  the  valve  and  the  trap  is 
sprung  and  they  are  drawn  within,  never  more  to 
escape,  but  to  be  slowly  devoured. 


THE    UTRICULARIA. 


There  is  another  interesting  species  o>iUtricnlaria, 
the  Purfurea,  quite  different  in  many  particulars  from 
the  first.  It  grows  in  deep,  still  water.  The  stems 
are  long,  sometimes  two 
feet  or  more  in  length, 
and  the  branches  radi- 
ate in  every  direction, 
so  that  one  plant  often 
covers  quite  a  large 
surface  of  water.  The 
flowering  stems  stand 
above  the  water,  and 


FIG.  2.  BLADDER  OF  U.  CLANDES- 
TINA  MAGNIFIED  TWENTY  DI- 
AMETERS. 


each  stem  bears  three 

or  four   very    pretty  violet   purple   flowers,  and   it 

blossoms  nearly  all  summer. 

The  flowers  are  about  half  an  inch  broad  and  quite 
conspicuous.  Most  of  the  other  species  have  yellow 
flowers. 

There  are  no  little  thread-like  leaves  on  this  spe- 
cies, and  the  bladders  are  on  the  ends  of  the  little 
branchlets,  and  they  have  no  sharp-pointed  antennae 
as  in  the  other  species;  but  in  their  place  is  an 
elegant  cluster  of  transparent  glassy-like  ornamental 


66  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

appendages.  The  ornaments  are  just  above  the 
entrance,  and  who  knows  but  this  is  a  contrivance 
set  there  to  lure  unwary  creatures  into  the  trap. 

One  of  the  most  common  little  creatures  that 
was  caught  in  this  trap,  was  the  Tardigrada,  or  water 
bear.  He  looks  like  a  tiny  cub,  but  unlike  his  great 
namesake,  he  has  eight  legs,  and  he  frequently 
slips  out  of  his  old  skin  and  comes  out  in  a  new  suit. 

I  often  find  them  crawling  in  a  forest  of  these 
plants,  peering  out  of  a  thick  jungle  —  now  ascending 
a  branch  and  out  on  a  limb,  holding  fast  with  their 
long  claws,  and  apparently  looking  around  to  see 
what  they  can  find. 

Now  one  seems  to  be  attracted  to  this  elegant 
glassy  cluster  of  Utricularia.  At  all  events  he  is  soon 
pushing  his  head  among  the  delicate  stems,  then  stops 
a  moment,  standing  perfectly  still  as  if  listening. 
Perhaps  he  hears  the  groans  of  his  dying  comrades, 
but  all  unheeding  the  warning,  he  steps  forward, 
touches  the  fatal  spring,  when  in  he  goes  to  perish 
with  his  comrades. 

Young  microscopists  may  like  to  know  that  the 
Utricularia  can  be  preserved  in  the  house  a  long 


THE   UTRICULARIA.  6j 

time  by  putting  the  stems  or  sprays  in  an  open, 
shallow  dish  of  water  where  they  will  grow  readily. 
I  have  kept  the  plants  months  together  in  a  large 
glass  dish  where  they  looked  charmingly  beautiful 
and  were  the  admiration  of  all 
who  saw  them.  It  is  very  in- 
teresting to  watch  their  growth. 
The  ends  of  the  growing  sprays 
unroll  like  ferns,  and  with  a 
magnifying  glass  you  can  see 
the  development  of  the  little 
bladders,  and  you  may  make 
discoveries  —  who  knows  ?  I  FIG.  3.  CHIRONOMUS 

LARVA  :       BACK     VIEW 

know  that  for  a  long  time  it  was       W1TH  FEET  DRAWN  IN 

,,      ,i     i          AND     JAWS    CLOSED; 
a  mystery  to  me  how  the  blad-       SIDE  VIEW  WITH  FEET 

ders  captured  and   imprisoned       EXTENDED  AND  JAWS 

CLOSED. 

the  little  animals.  Every  day 
I  saw  they  were  entrapped  and  never  escaped,  and 
I  studied  and  pondered  over  the  matter  a  long  time, 
and  was  so  interested  and  determined  to  learn  the 
secret  that  I  spent  night  after  night  looking  through 
the  microscope,  watching  the  strange,  unwary  crea- 
tures fall  into  the  trap. 


68  THROUGH    A    MICROSCOPE. 

At  last  I  concluded  to  adopt  the  following  plan  :  I 
took  sprays  of  the  plants  that  I  had  grown  in  clear 
water. that  contained  no  animalcules,  so  that  all  the 
bladders  were  empty  and  quite  transparent.  In 
another  dish  I  had  put  a  great  many  masses  of  mos- 
quito eggs.  Mosquito  eggs  are  found  floating  on 
almost  any  standing  water,  in  dark,  compact  masses. 
In  warm  weather  they  hatch  in  a  few  hours.  So  you 
can  understand  how  quickly  I  could  swarm  a  small 
vessel  of  water  with  the  mosquito  larvae  by  introduc- 
ing the  eggs  where  I  wished  them  to  hatch.  When 
they  were  hatched  I  put  some  of  the  water  in  which 
was  a  large  number  of  the  tiny  creatures  into  the  live 
box  with  a  spray  of  the  plant  containing  empty  blad- 
ders. I  placed  the  box  under  the  microscope  and 
closely  watched  the  manner  of  capture.  I  became 
certain  that  in  almost  every  instance  the  larvae  were 
caught  tail  first.  The  tail  is  brush-like,  and  when  it 
swept  over  the  door  or  valve  that  leads  into  the  blad- 
der, I  saw  that  the  door  would  immediately  fly  open 
and  always  draw  the  larva  in.  I  soon  became  satis- 
fied that  the  valve  was  very  sensitive  when  touched 
at  the  right  point,  but  to  this  day  I  cannot  tell  what  the 


THE    UTRICULARIA.  69 

power  is  that  so  quickly  draws  the  creatures  within.  I 
earnestly  hope  that  some  young  microscopists  will  yet 
be  able  to  ferret  out  the  cause  of  this  singular  power. 

Those  who  have  read  Mr.  Darwin's  very  interesting 
book  on  Insectivorous  Plants,  will  "have  noticed  that 
he  says  the  valve  of  Utricularia  is  not  in  the  least 
sensitive,  and  that  the  little  creatures  force  their  way 
into  the  bladders  —  their  heads  acting  like  a  wedge. 
But  this  is  not  the  case,  as  Mr.  Darwin  himself  was 
convinced  some  years  before  his  death.  In  his  usual 
kind,  gracious  manner  he  admitted  that  he  was  wrong, 
and  gracefully  says  the  valve  must  be  sensitive, 
although  he  could  never  excite  any  movement.  In  a 
letter  to  me  bearing  date  June  ist,  1875,  he  says  : 

"I  have  read  your  article  (in  Harpers  Magazine) 
with  the  greatest  interest.  It  certainly  appears  from 
your  excellent  observations  that  the  valve  is  sensitive. 
.  .  .  .  I  cannot  understand  why  I  could  never 
with  all  my  pains  excite  any  movement.  It  is  pretty 
clear  I  am  quite  wrong  about  the  head  acting  like  a 
wedge.  The  indraught  of  the  living  larva  is  aston- 
ishing." 


X,  —  FREE  SWIMMING  ANIMALCULES. 


Brickmak- 
er,  Floscules, 
and  Vorticellas  are 
quiet  peaceable  citi- 
zens of  the  micro- 
scopic world,  and 
seem  to  be  impressed 

SKELETOiN    WATER    WHEEL. 

with  the  graver  duties 

of  life  ;  they  set  up  housekeeping  and  settle  down 
for  life  moored  to  one  spot.  But  there  are  many 
others  that  live  a  free-and-easy  sort  of  life  —  a  wan- 
dering gypsy  kind  of  an  existence,  always  on  the 
move;  and  there  is  not  much  satisfaction  in  trying 
to  follow  these  rovers  if  we  wish  to  make  a  careful 
study  of  their  structure. 

So  to  be  enabled  to  examine  them  you  will  be 

compelled    to   imprison    them    in    the   live-box    and 
70 


FREE  SWIMMING  ANIMALCULES.         Jl 

bring  just  as  much  pressure  to  bear  upon  them  as 
they  will  stand  without  crushing,  which  with  careful 
practice  you  may  soon  learn  to  do.  But  if  you  are 
simply  making  the  acquaintance  of  these  little  creat- 
ures for  amusement,  it  is  more  interesting  and  satis- 
factory to  watch  them  while  they  are  unrestrained, 
and  see  the  curious  feats  they  perform. 

One  of  the  most  amusing  of  these  little  animals 
is  the  Skeleton  Wheel-bearer  (Dinocharis  pocillum}. 
His  portrait  is  seen  at  Figure  i.  He  has  a  long  foot 
consisting  of  three  joints,  and  these  joints  are 
as  perfect  as  those  of  our  own  knees  and  elbows, 
and  can  be  moved  as  easily  forward  and  sideways, 
but  not  backward.  The  joints  and  foot  are  not  cov- 
ered with  any  fleshy  substance,  from  which  fact  — 
the  joints  being  so  conspicuous — it  probably  re- 
ceived the  name  Skeleton.  Two  long  slender  toes 
extend  from  the  last  joint,  and  from  the  tips  of 
these  the  Skeleton  can  show  us  more  wonderful  feats 
than  any  circus  performer. 

The  toes  can  be  widely  separated,  or  brought 
close  together,  like  a  pair  of  tongs.  Sometimes  he 
stands  on  the  tip  of  one  toe  and  throws  his  body 


72  THROUGH    A    MICROSCOPE. 

forward,  or  from  side  to  side  with  a  rapid  motion ; 
then  straightening  himself  up,  he  stands  on  the  tips 
of  both  toes  as  if  posing,  remaining  perfectly  still 
for  a  few  moments  and  giving  us  an  opportunity  to 
take  a  good  look  at  his  curious  body  which  is  en- 
cased in  a  pretty  vase-shaped,  three-sided  transpar- 
ent shell.  The  head  extends  from  the  top  of  the 
vase,  arid  is  surmounted  with  the  usual  cilia,  or 
wheel,  which  we  see  among  all  the  rotifera.  When 
he  is  tired  of  posing,  away  he  swims  in  a  graceful, 
easy  manner,  with  his  long  foot  staightened  out  and 
the  toes  brought  close  together. 

You  sometimes  will  find  these  pretty  creatures,  espe- 
cially in  summer-time,  very  numerous  in  the  sediment 
at  the  bottom  of  your  collecting  bottles.  Often  I  have 
found  dead  specimens,  and  very  beautiful  objects  they 
sometimes  are.  Great  numbers  of  tiny  scavengers 
have  completely  cleaned  out  all  of  the  soft  parts  of 
the  body  in  a  most  neat  and  perfect  manner,  leaving 
the  beautiful  shell  and  vertical  column,  that  runs 
through  it,  and  the  foot  and  toes,  entire  and  perfect 
in  all  of  their  parts. 

Think    of   the  minuteness   of  these  scavengers  — 


FREE    SWIMMING   ANIMALCULES.  73 

untold  numbers  of  them  preying  upon  the  body  of 
an  object  invisible  to  the  naked  eye;  and  yet  this 
body  is  a  mammoth  by  the  side  of  one  of  the  scaven- 
gers !  The  mind  can  scarcely  grasp  the  minuteness 
of  these  tiny  creatures  —  creatures  that  seem  to  enjoy 
existence,  eating,  and  apparently  playing  and  enter- 
taining each  other  like  the  higher  animals. 

The  whiptail  (Mastigocerca  carinatd)  (Fig.  2)  is 
another  delicate  pretty  little  creature,  and,  like  the 
skeleton,  is  encased  in  a  glassy  shell.  It  has  a  long, 
tapering,  spine-like  foot,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  a 
toe  which  is 
attached  to  a 


WHIPTAIL. 

foot  by  means 

of  a  flexible  joint  which  allows  free  motion.  You 
often  will  find  him  in  company  with  the  Skeleton,  and 
they  seem  to  vie  with  each  other  in  performing 
strange  feats.  The  Whiptail,  if  possible,  looks 
even  more  cbmical  than  the  Skeleton  when  it  stands 
on  the  tip  of  its  long  toe,  a  toe  which  is  longer 
than  the  entire  length  of  the  body,  now  bending 
over  and  nibbling  at  the  plants,  now  whisking 


74  THROUGH    A    MICROSCOPE. 

around  as  if  looking  and  inquiring  into  some  passing 
object,  then  sailing  through  the  water  with  a  grace- 
ful, easy  motion  beyond  sight. 

Brachionus  pala  is  also  a  lovely  creature  encased 
in  a  delicate  transparent  shell.  It  is  considerably 
larger  than  the  Skeleton  or  Whiptail,  and  is  just  visi- 
ble to  the  unassisted  eye.  If  you  drop  it  in  a  phial 
of  clear  water  and  hold  it  up  to  the  light,  you  can 
distinctly  see  it  gliding  through  the  water  like  a 
revolving  white  speck.  A  moderate  power  of  the  micro- 


LARGE    ROTIFER. 


scope  reveals  its  beauty.  The  shell  is  swelled  at  the 
sides,  and  narrow  at  the  mouth,  and  round  over  the 
back,  while  the  under  side  is  flat. 

Like  the  Skeleton  and  Whiptail,  the  head  of  the 
little  Brachion  is  seen  protruding  from  the  upper 
part  of  the  shell ,  but  instead  of  one  wheel  this 
charming  little  creature  has  two,  and  nothing  can  be 


FREE   SWIMMING    ANIMALCULES.  75 

more   lovely   than   a   sight   of   these  fast  revolving 
wheels,  like  two  beautiful  crowns. 

The  reason  the  wheel  looks  so  strikingly  beautiful 
in  Brachiomis  is  owing  to  the  long  cilia  which  is 
longer  in  this  genus  than  in  other  genera  of  this  great 
family. 

The  foot  of  Brachionus  is  more  curious  than  that  of 
the  Skeleton.  It  is  telescopic,  and  the  little  animal 
has  the  most  perfect  control  over  it.  He  can  draw  it 
within  the  body  so  that  it  looks  like  a  ball,  and 
again  quickly  thrust  it  out  and  whisk  it  around  .in  all 
directions  like  a  tail.  It  has  two  short  toes  at  the 
end  which  can  be  separated  or  brought  together 
at  pleasure.  And  he  can  firmly  anchor  himself  by 
the  toes  and  stretch  forward,  showing  you  the  great 
length  of  the  foot.  Now  he  rolls  from  side  to  side 
without  letting  go  his  hold  and  performs  other 
strange  feats,  and  all  the  while  the  wheels  are  rapidly 
revolving,  he  has  stopped  his  headlong  career 
through  the  water  and  has  settled  down  to  get  his 
supper. 

Fig.  3  represents  one  of  the  largest  rotifers  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  I  have  never  been  able  to 


76  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

find  a  description  or  engraving  of  it  in  any  work  on 
microscopy.  But  it  is  probably  well  known  to  micro- 
scopists,  for  it  has  a  wide  range.  I  have  found  it  in 
New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey  and  Florida. 

You  cannot  get  a  true  idea  of  its  graceful  beauty 
from  the  drawing,  as  it  is  represented  as  it  was  seen 
in  the  live  box  with  sufficient  pressure  upon  it  to 
keep  it  from  moving,  while  serving  as  a  model. 
And  no  engraving,  however  perfect,  can  give  you  any 
idea  of  its  brilliant  transparency  and  delicate  color- 
ing. 

The  play  of  the  muscles  and  internal  organs  are 
plainly  visible,  and  you  can  always  tell  what  he  has 
chosen  for  dinner.  Diatoms  and  desmids  form  a 
portion  of  his  diet.  His  mouth  is  below  the  wheel. 
When  he  is  hungry  he  anchors  himself  by  his  forked 
tail  and  sets  his  wheel  in  rapid  motion,  which  makes 
a  powerful  current  sufficient  to  bring  quite  large 
objects  to  his  head,  frequently  too  large  to  admit  into 
the  mouth.  He  will  often  repeatedly  try  to  take  a 
desmid  entirely  too  large  for  his  mouth,  and  his 
manoeuvres  are  quite  comical  as  he  whirls  it  round  and 
round,  nipping  it  on  all  sides.  You  will  see  by  looking 


FREE   SWIMMING   ANIMALCULES.  77 

at  the  figure  that  everything  has  to  be  swallowed  or 
taken  within  the  body  before  it  reaches  the  mouth. 
While  the  desmid  is  within  the  body  the  rotifer  has 
control  over  it  sufficient  to  take  it  into  the  mouth 
if  it  is  of  the  right  size,  but  if  it  is  too  large  he  soon 
becomes  disgusted  and  ejects  it  with  a  sudden  move- 
ment which  sends  it  whirling  rapidly  away.  And 
now  he  takes  a  smaller  one  and  his  jaws  work  vigor- 
ously a  moment  or  two,  when  he  swallows  it  almost 
entire,  and  we  can  plainly  see  the  pretty  markings 
and  brilliant  green  color  after  it  has  passed  into  the 
stomach. 

This  large  rotifer  is  plainly  visible  to  the  naked 
eye,  and  you  will  find  it  in  both  shallow  and  deep 
ponds,  wherever  water  plants  grow,  during  the  months 
of  July  and  August. 


XI.— ON  THE  BEACH. 

TV  /["ANY  of  our  young  people  spend  the  month 
of  August  at  the  seaside,  and  if  those  who 
wish  to  learn  something  of  the  curious  microscopic 
animals  will  stroll  along  the  beach  when  the  tide  has 
receded,  until  they  come  to  rocky  places  and  little 
pools  filled  with  salt  water  and  various  marine  plants, 
they  will  find  a  form  of  animal  life  quite  different 
from  that  in  fresh  water  ponds.  These  little  pools 
along  the  rocky  coast  are  the  homes  of  countless 
numbers  of  zoophytes  —  animals  which  have  a  stronger 
resemblance  to  plants  and  flowers  than  any  we  have 
found  in  fresh  water. 

Look  for  specimens  for  microscopic  work  on  the 
surface  of  the  rocks,  on  dead  sea  shells,  and  on  the 
sea-weeds.  On  the  sea-weeds  you  will  often  find  a 
white  filmy  network  which  to  the  unassisted  eye  looks 

like  simple  white  threads  running  and  spreading  in 
78 


ON    THE    BEACH. 


79 


every  direction,  and  at  every  angle  of  the  network  a 
tiny  stem  shoots  up,  branching  out  like  a  tree  and 
making  a  miniature  forest. 

Now  if  you  apply  a  low  power  of  the  microscope, 
you  will  find  the  little  forest  is 
made  up  of  a  strange  animal 
called  Laomeda  geniculata.  (Fig. 
i.)  Each  branch  of  this  com- 
pound animal  terminates  and 
expands  into  a  lovely  vase  and 
is  the  home  of  a  polype.  The 
polype  is  not  a  separate  indi- 
vidual any  more  than  the  end  of 
a  growing  branch  is  separate 
from  the  tree  on  which  it  grows. 

When  the  creature  is  hungry  he  sends  out  from 
the  margin  of  the  vase  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
tentacles,  ranged  around  the  rim  like  the  petals 
of  a  flower.  Figure  i  shows  one  of  these  expanded 
polypes  as  seen  through  the  microscope. 

The  tentacles  or  feelers  are  fishing  rods  to 
bring  game  to  the  fleshy  mouth  which  is  protruded 
from  the  centre  of  the  vase.  A  great  many  such 


LAOMEDA. 


80  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

mouths    surrounded  with  their  tentacles  are   neces- 
sary  to   feed    this   singular  compound  creature. 

All  that  I  can  tell  you  of  these  microscopic 
animals  will  be  nothing  compared  to  a  study  of 
them  with  your  own  eyes,  so  I  will  only  give  you 
hints  of  what  you  may  expect,  thereby  hoping  to  create 
sufficient  interest  to  induce  you  to  stroll  to  out-of-the- 
way  places,  where  you  may  find  many  of  Nature's  mar- 
vellous works.  We  want  more  field  workers  in  every 
department  of  Natural  History,  and  especially  in 
microscopy  where  unexplored  fields  are  awaiting  you. 

When  the  tide  has  receded,  various  objects  of 
interest  will  meet  your  eye  at  every  step.  Look  at 
that  old  dead  sea  shell  covered  with  a  rough,  shaggy 
nap.  Ah,  as  we  approach,  the  shell  is  moving  off ! 
What  can  it  mean  ?  Why,  it  means  that  a  hermit 
crab  has  set  up  housekeeping  in  the  old  shell,  and  he, 
no  doubt,  thinks  us  suspicious  characters  and  wants 
•  none  of  our  company.  But  we  are  after  microscopic 
objects  now,  and  this  hermit,  interesting  as  he  is,  is 
not  to  claim  our  attention  to-day.  The  rough  coat 
on  the  outside  of  the  shell  is  of  more  interest. 

With  the  aid  of  a  pocket  lens  you  will  find  it  another 


ON    THE    BEACH.  8 1 

zoophyte.  You  can  see  the  polypes,  as  thick  as  they 
can  well  stand,  rising  erect  and  straight  from  the 
shaggy  coat  like  a  miniature  field  of  wheat.  With  a 
higher  power  you  will  see  that  each  mouth  is  sur- 
rounded with  tentacles  like  those  of  Laomeda,  but  yet 
it  is  quite  a  different  looking  creature.  If  we  touch 
one  of  these  polypes  ever 
so  lightly,  the  greatkarmy 
immediately  close  their  ten- 
tacles, for  the  same  life 
pervades  the  entire  colony, 

LARES. 

arid  those  on  the  extreme 

outer   edge  feel  the   contact  as  quickly  as  the  one 

we  touched. 

One  of  the  most  comical  and  amusing  creatures  of 
all  the  zoophyte  tribe,  is  figured  and  described  by 
Mr.  Gosse  under  the  name  of  Lar  Sabellarum.  He 
was  the  first  observer  of  this  curious  creature ;  he 
found  it  inhabiting  the  outer  edge  of  the  tube  of  a 
worm  —  the  Sabella.  So  when  you  are  looking  for 
microscopic  objects  do  not  overlook  any  tube  that 
you  may  see  standing  above  the  surface  of  sand  and 
mud,  as  it  may  be  surrounded  by  this  singular  zoo- 


82  THROUGH    A    MICROSCOPE. 

phyte.  The  tubes  usually  extend  an  inch  or  two 
above  the  surface,  and  about  as  far  below.  I  have 
found  the  tubes  surrounded  with  the  creatures,  but 
not  in  as  good  condition  for  investigation  as  those 
Mr.  Gosse  mentions.  Mine  were  too  thick  and 
crowded  to  distinguish  clearly.  But  as  Mr.  Gosse 
describes  them,  they  have  a  most  close  resemblance 
to  the  human  figure  as  they  stand  erect  around  the 
mouth  of  the  tube  of  Sabella. 

A  loose  network  surrounds  the  top  of  the  tube  and 
the  strange  forms  spring  from  the  angles  of  the 
meshes.  The  creatures  are  furnished  with  heads, 
and  immediately  below  the  head  are  two  arms.  ( Fig  2.) 
The  head  moves  to  and  fro  on  the  neck,  while  the 
arms  are  tossed  wildly  about  as  if  gesticulating  in  the 
most  earnest  manner.  Or,  as  in  the  wild  and 
disorderly  dances  of  savages  the  body  sways  back 
and  forth  while  the  arms  are  thrown  upward  and 
downward  in  a  frantic  way. 

One  summer  I  found  a  colony  standing  so  thickly 
together  that  they  did  not  show  off  to  very  good 
advantage.  Apparently  they  were  like  a  packed 
army  of  Liliputians,  striking  out  with  their  arms  and 


ON   THE    BEACH.  83 

struggling  with  one  another.  But  when  I  came  to 
observe  them  more  carefully,  I  found  they  were  not 
interfering  with  one  another  at  all, 
but  each  was  intent  on  his  own 
business  of  obtaining  a  livelihood. 

The  Sabella  which  inhabits  the 
tube,  is  of  itself  a  most  attractive 
object.  Most  elegant  fringed  fila- 
ments proceed  from  the  head,  and 
wave  back  and  forth  like  a  fan,  and  HAND  OF  BARNA. 
near  the  ends  of  these  delicate 
slender  filaments  are  little  black  balls,  supposed  to 
be  eyes.  If  they  are  eyes,  the  Sabella  has  no  lack 
of  vision,  and  this  may  account  for  his  seeming  watch- 
fulness. He  is  always  on  the  alert  and  drops  down 
into  his  house  at  any  approach.  Only  with  the  utmost 
caution  will  you  have  an  opportunity  to  leisurely  look 
at  his  rare  beauty. 

When  for  the  first  time  I  saw  this  elegant,  beautiful 
creature  rising  out  of  the  tube,  and  waving  its  fringed 
fan-like  filaments,  I  did  not  wonder  at  Mr.  Gosse's 
enthusiasm.  Neither  was  I  surprised  that  he  should 
be  reminded  of  the  old  Roman  mythology  and  call 


84  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

the  zoophytes  which  surround  the  tube,  "  Lares/'  for 
the  rare  beauty  of  Sabella  would  suggest  the  protec- 
tion of  guardian  spirits.  He  says  : 

"  These  curious  creatures  have  afforded  much 
entertainment,  not  only  to  myself,  but  to  those  scien- 
tific friends  to  whom  I  have  had  opportunities  of 
exhibiting  them.  When  I  see  them  surrounding  the 
mansion  of  the  Sabella,  gazing,  as  it  were,  after  him 
as  he  retreats  into  his  castle,  flinging  their  wild  arms 
over  its  entrance,  and  keeping  watch  with  untiring 
vigilance  until  he  reappears,  it  seems  to  require  no 
very  vivid  fancy  to  imagine  them  so  many  guardian 
demons  ;  and  the  Lares  of  the  old  Roman  mythology 
occurring  to  memory,  I  described  the  form  under  the 
scientific  appellation  of  Lar  Sabellarum.  You  may, 
however,  if  it  pleases  you  better,  call  them  *  witches 
dancing  round  the  charmed  pot.'  " 

When  the  tide  is  out  you  will  frequently  notice 
barnacles  adhering  to  the  rocks,  or  to  the  timbers 
used  in  the  construction  of  wharves.  Pray  stop  and 
examine  them  critically  and  see  what  admirable 
fishers  they  are.  Their  fishing-nets  are  composed  of 
several  long,  flexible,  jointed  fingers,  thickly  beset 


ON   THE    BEACH.  85 

with  sensitive  hairs.  When  the  fisher  wants  a  meal 
he  thrusts  his  long  hand  (  Fig.  3  )  out  the  door  of  his 
stone  house ;  the  sensitive  fingers  quickly  tell  when  they 
come  in  contact  with  anything  good  to  eat,  and  they 
curl  over  and  grasp  it  and  convey  it  to  the  mouth. 

These  barnacles  are  wonderful  creatures  and  well 
worthy  your  continuous  study.  They  pass  through 
several  stages.  When  young  they  are  a  gay  rolicking 
set,  swimming  freely  in  the  water ;  but  as  maturity 
approaches  they  settle  down  in  stone  houses,  never 
more  to  rove  about,  and  set  up  fishing  for  a  living. 


XII.  — RHIZOPODS. 


FIG.    1.      AMCRBA   PRINCEPS.    IN 
IJIFFRENT    FORMS. 


HIZOPODS  are  the 
^  lowest  creatures  in 
the  animal  kingdom.  Some 
of  them  are  apparently 
nothing  more  than  anima- 
ted protoplasm.  Proto- 
plasm pertains  to  the  first 
formation  of  living  bodies,  whether  vegetable  or  ani- 
mal, and  it  appears  to  be  only  a  viscid,  glutinous, 
unformed  mass  of  jelly-like  substance,  yet  these  rhiz- 
opods  seem  endowed  with  something  more  than  sim- 
ple life. 

Let  us  take  the  lowest  of  these  lowly  creatures,  the 
amoeba,  or  proteus,  which  we  may  find  during  the 
summer  in  almost  every  fresh  water  pond.  I  cannot 
describe  it,  for,  like  its  namesake,  it  is  constantly 

changing  its  form,  slipping  away  from  us,  as  it  were, 
86 


RHIZOPODS.  87 

right  before  our  eyes,  and  assuming  a  new  shape.  As 
Proteus  of  old  could  assume  any  form,  either  plant  or 
animal  as  he  pleased,  so  our  amoeba  can  assume  vari- 
ous forms  at  pleasure. 

You  will  remember  that  Homer  introduces  Proteus 
in  the  fourth  book  of  the  Odyssey.  He  makes  him 
the  servant  of  Neptune,  and  says  his  office  was  to 
take  care  of  the  seals  or  sea-calves.  And  who  knows 
but  his  namesake  may  have  some  such  office  among 
the  curious  beings  of  the  microscopic  world  which  is 
peopled  with  as  many  strange  creatures  as  those  we 
read  of  in  ancient  mythology  ? 

We  frequently  see  our  proteus  adhering  to  a  leaf  of 
some  water  plant  when  it  looks  like  a  little  ball  of 
jelly  ;  and  while  we  are  looking  at  it,  it  pushes  out  an 
arm  here,  and  now  another  there,  and  still  another,  as 
if  feeling  for  something.  (Fig.  i,  Amceba  princeps^) 
Not  finding  anything  to  its  taste,  it  moves  or  crawls 
along  with  its  temporary  arms  extended  —  all  the 
while  changing  them,  throwing  one  out  on  this  side, 
then  on  that,  then  contracting  and  pushing  out  in  an- 
other place.  It  seems  to  be  actively  in  search  of 
something.  At  last  it  has  reached  a  moving  diatom 


88  THROUGH   A   MICROSCOPE. 

with  one  of  its  long  arms,  which  it  immediately  wraps 
around  it,  and  now  the  other  arms  are  contracted  and 
the  creature  actually  folds  itself  around  its  dinner  ! 
He  turns  himself  outside  in,  and  makes  a  temporary 
stomach,  and  proceeds  to  digest  the  soft  parts  of  the 
diatom.  After  he  has  extracted  all  the  nourishing 
part,  he  squeezes  or  pushes  out  the  clear,  transparent 
shell,  and  starts  in  search  for  something  more. 

It  is  not  known  to  a  certainty  how  the  amoeba  are 
produced,  but  this  much  is  known :  If  a  portion  of 
the  body  is  detached  from  the  rest,  it  does  not  die, 
but  becomes  an  independent  amoeba.  If  a  portion 
of  one  of  the  arms  becomes  separated  from  the  main 
body,  it  does  not  seem  to  incommode  the  creature  in 
the  least,  and  the  small  part  soon  begins  to  extend 
tiny  arms  and  behave  in  every  way  like  its  parent. 
And  this  may  be  the  only  way  in  which  the  children  of 
Proteus  are  made  —  veritable  children  of  his  own 
flesh. 

How  strange  it  seems  that  a  jelly-like  mass  of  sub- 
stance without  form  or  organization  should  be  en- 
dowed with  life  and  sufficient  sense  to  go  in  search  of 
food  and  have  the  power  of  selection. 


RHIZOPODS.  89 

Life  manifested  in  the  lowest  animal  or  plant  is 
just  as  wonderful  and  hard  to  understand  as  that 
which  pervades  the  higher  animals. 

Some  of  the  species  of  the  fresh  water  amoeba  live 
in  shells  of  various  forms  and  patterns.  One  which 
we  often  see  has  a  little  house  made  of  tiny  particles 
of  sand  and  minute  bits  of  shell  soldered  together 


FIG.    2.      TESTACEOUS    FORMS    OF   AMCEBAN    RHIZOPODS. 

with  a  kind  of  cement  which  hardens  in  water;  these 
are  vase  or  pitcher-shaped  and  always  look  rough  on 
the  outside. 

We  may  always  know  the  different  species  by  the 
forms  and  patterns  of  the  shells  in  which  they  live. 
Some  have  very  regular  shells  and  prettily  marked. 
These  are  usually  rounded  or  arched  on  one  side  and 
flat  on  the  other. 

When  you  are  looking  for  various  microscopic  ob- 
jects in  pond  water  you  will  often  see  these  tiny  shells 


QO  THROUGH    A   MICROSCOPE. 

among  the  sediment  on  your  slides,  and  if  you  will  pa- 
tiently wait  a  few  moments  you  will  soon  see  delicate, 
transparent  arms  slowly  pushing  out  on  every  side 
like  cautious  feelers.  (Figure  2,  Amoeba  in  Shell. — 
Carpenter,  p.  445.) 

But  the  most  beautiful  forms,  and  by  far  the  great- 
est variety  of  these  microscopic  shells  are  found  in 
the  ocean  and  in  marine  deposits.  If  we  look  at  the 
seaweeds  which  grow  on  the  rocks  we  may  see  many 
white  specks  adhering  to  every  part  of  the  plants. 
With  a  lens  we  find  the  minute  specks  are  spiral 
shells  of  many  species  belonging  to  the  class  Fora- 
minifera,  and  very  closely  allied  to  the  amoeba.  The 
shells  are  of  most  elegant  form  and  pattern.  The 
large  sea-shells  which  we  so  much  admire  are  not 
half  so  lovely  in  form  or  color  as  these  seen  through 
a  microscope.  Some  of  the  living  animals  and  the 
castles  in  which  they  dwell  are  crimson  in  color, 
others  a  delicate  pink. 

Let  us  take  one  of  these  living  shells  while  it  clings 
to  the  sea-weed  and  carefully  cut  off  the  smallest  por- 
tion of  the  plant  to  which  it  adheres,  so  as  to  disturb 
the  occupant  as  little  as  possible ;  and  now  place  it  in 


RHIZOPODS.  91 

the  live  box  with  some  of  the  salt  water  and  we  shall 
soon  have  a  most  beautiful  sight. 

See,  the  creature  is  throwing  out  delicate,  transpar- 
ent threads  or  filaments  in  every  direction,  like  fine- 
spun glass.  How  charming  it  looks  with  the  beauti- 
ful shell  in  the  centre,  surrounded  by  this  moving, 
filmy  halo,  and  how  slowly  and  cautiously  the  fila- 
ments are  extended !  He  is  not  a  heedless,  reckless 
creature,  rushing  into  needless  danger,  but  a  quiet, 
timid  citizen.  Although  he  was  such  a  long  time 
throwing  out  his  misty  arms,  when  he  scents  danger 
he  withdraws  them  as  quick  as  a  flash.  The  least 
jar  of  the  live-box,  or  a  little  wriggling  larva — much 
too  large  for  him  to  manage,  however  —  are  sufficient 
to  make  him  take  in  all  of  his  lines  ;  but  when  quiet 
is  restored,  they  are  again  stretched  out.  And  for 
what  purpose  are  these  slender  filaments  extended  ? 
Ah,  an  innocent  animalcule  has  become  entangled 
among  the  shimmering,  filmy  threads,  and  now  the 
threads  coalesce,  run  together  like  the  arms  of  amasba, 
and  disappear,  and  the  animalcule  is  drawn  within  the 
walls  of  the  beautiful  castle,  and  we  are  left  to  con- 
jecture the  fate  of  the  little  victim.  Figure  3,  Rotalia 


92  THROUGH    A    MICROSCOPE. 

Ornata  —  which  shows  its  delicate  filaments  extended. 

These  tiny  creatures  have  been  so  numerous  way 

back  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  that  entire  strata 

of  rocks,  several  feet  in  thickness,  in  various  parts  of 

the  world,  are  made 
up  of  their  skeletons. 
The  city  of  Richmond, 
Virginia,  is  built  over 
rocks,  composed 
largely  of  the  minute 
fossils  of  DiatomacecR 
intermingled  with  the 
Foraminifera  and  oth- 

FIG.  3.      ROTALIA  ORNATA.  erS. 

A  single  prepared  slide  of  these  fossils  will  af- 
ford entertainment  for  an  entire  evening,  so  great 
is  the  diversity  of  form  and  so  many  hundreds  on 
one  slide.  The  Bahama  Islands  furnish  the  finest 
specimens  of  these  fossils.  The  slides  can  be  pro- 
cured of  any  large  dealer  in  optical  instruments,  or, 
what  is  still  better,  the  young  microscopist  can  soon 
learn  to  prepare  them  for  himself,  as  ample  directions 
are  given  in  the  books  on  the  microscope. 


RHIZOPODS.  93 

In  bidding  my  young  readers  adieu  I  shall  not  lose 
entire  thought  of  them,  but  often  when  I  am  engaged 
in  looking  through  the  microscope,  I  shall  think  and 
ask  myself,  "  Are  they,  too,  absorbed  in  this  pleasant 
work,  and  how  many  will  become  true  workers  and 
original  investigators  in  this  great  field  ?  "  We  shall 
all  know  in  due  time,  for  no  earnest  worker  in  any 
branch  of  science  can  long  remain  unknown.  He 
will  be  found  out  sooner  or  later.  A  devoted  student 
in  microscopy  will  become  so  happy  over  the  marvel- 
lous creatures  and  their  curious  ways  that  he  cannot 
keep  his  pleasure  to  himself. 


PART    III 

HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE, 
AND    HOW   TO    USE    IT 

BY  FREDERICK  LEROY  SARGENT 


XIII.  —  HOW   TO    SEE   A   DANDELION. 

A  SIMPLE  microscope,  some  mounted  needles, 
a  sharp  knife  and  a  pair  of  small  forceps, 
are  the  only  things  needed  to  begin  with. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  simple  microscopes  sold, 
some  of  which  are  of  moderate  price  and  answer 
every  purpose  ;  but  if  one  has  a  little  mechanical 
skill  the  cheapest  way  is  to  buy  a  magnifier  and 
make  the  rest  of  the  microscope  one's  self.  What  is 
known  as  the  "  bellows  pattern,"  with  three  lenses, 
is  one  of  the  best  of  the  cheaper  forms  of  magni- 
fiers, and  is  an  admirable  little  instrument. 

Fig.  i  shows  a  home-made  microscope  ready 
for  use.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  main  part  con- 
sists of  a  wooden  box  having  a  hole  in  the  top  and 
open  in  front.  To  the  back  is  attached  a  cork  by 
means  of  a  piece  of  thin  metal  as  shown  \njig.  2. 
Through  this  cord  slides  a  rod  on  which  slides  an- 
other cork.  A  piece  of  brass  wire  has  one  end 

97 


98  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

wound  round  the  upper  cork  while  the  other  end 
projects  as  an  arm  at  right  angles  to  the  rod,  and 
this  projecting  end  sharpened  and  upturned,  passes 


FIG.   I. 

through  holes  drilled  in  the  handle  of  the  magni- 
fier, and  thus  supports  it.  The  lenses  are  focused, 
/.  e.  brought  to  the  right  distance  from  the  object 
viewed,  by  sliding  the  cork  up  and  down  on  the  rod. 


HOW    TO    SEE    A    DANDELION. 


99 


The  object  rests  on  a  piece  of  glass  laid  over  the 
hole  in  the  top  of  the  box.  A  piece  of  wood  covered 
with  white  paper  and  placed  below  the  object  at 
an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees  answers  for  a 
reflector  to  illuminate  those  objects  through  which 
the  light  can  pass.  The  pure  white  surface  is  bet- 
ter for  the  purpose  than  a  mirror. 


Q 

0 


FIG.    2. 


The  most  delicate  part  of  the  construction  is 
making  the  holes  in  the  corks  for  the  rod  to  slide 
through.  This  may  be  done  perfectly,  however,  by 
making  the  holes  with  a  rat-tail  file,  trying  the  rod 


100  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

now  and  then  until  it  moves  just  right.  The  best 
thing  for  the  rod  is  a  piece  of  brass  wire  one  quarter 
of  an  inch  thick  ;  a  lead  pencil  however  is  a  good 


FIG.    3. 

substitute.  Before  bending  the  end  of  the  brass 
wire  arm  it  is  well  to  heat  it  red-hot  at  the  point 
of  bending,  to  take  out  the  temper :  as  otherwise 
it  may  break.  The  holes  in  the  handle  of  the  mag- 
nifier should  be  drilled  as  near  the  front  as  possible 
and  so  arranged  that  when  the  magnifier  is  in  po- 
sition the  smallest  lens  will  be  near  the  object. 

The  mounted  needles  are  shown  in  Jig,  3.  One 
pair  of  each  kind  will  be  enough  to  start  with.  To 
make  one,  take  a  fine  needle,  break  off  about  a 
third,  so  it  will  not  be  too  long  and  springy ;  then 
with  a  pair  of  pincers  force  it  into  the  handle  point 
first,  withdraw  it  and  finally  force  it  in  again  with 
the  point  out.  It  may  be  easily  bent  with  the  pin- 
cers by  first  heating  it  to  redness  in  a  flame.  When 
bent,  heat  it  red  once  more  and  plunge  quickly  into 
water  to  re-temper  it.  Rubbing  on  an  oil  stone  may 


HOW    TO    SEE    A    DANDELION.  IOI 

be  necessary  to  remove  roughness.  Should  the 
handles  show  any  tendency  to  split,  it  would  be  well 
to  wrap  the  end  tightly  with  waxed  thread. 

The  forceps  (Jig.  4)  may  be  purchased  either  of 
brass  or  steel  at  no  great  expense.  Although  not 
necessary  it  is  more  convenient  to  have  them  curved 
than  straight. 

If  the  reader  will  carefully  follow  the  directions 
given  below  and  endeavor  to  see  for  himself  all  the 
parts  spoken  of,  he  will  probably  have  very  little 


FIG.   4. 

difficulty  afterward  in  the  use  of  the  instruments 
just  described  ;  and  the  enjoyment  he  will  have 
when  he  has  learned  how  to  examine  little  things, 
will  amply  repay  for  careful  and  persistent  efforts 
at  the  start.  Get  a  Dandelion  in  full  bloom  and 
also  one  that  has  gone  to  seed. 

Have  the  microscope  and  the  other  instruments 
ready  for  use.  The  best  place  to  work  is  on  a  table 
in  front  of  a  window  where  there  is  plenty  of  light, 
but  not  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun. 


102  A   HOME-MADE   MICROSCOPE. 

Now  cut  the  blossom  in  halves  from  the  stem  up. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  stem  is  hollow  and  ends 
above  in  a  cushion-like  expansion.  From  the  upper 
surface  of  this  grow  a  number  of  little  flowers,  while 
from  the  sides  there  sprang  two  rows  of  little  green 
organs  that  enclose  the  flower  cluster  like  a  cup. 
Remove  one  of  the  flowers  with  the  forceps  and 
place  it  in  a  drop  of  water  on  the  glass  stage  of  the 
microscope.  Examine  with  one  and  one  half  inch 
power.  * 

Be  careful  to  get  just  the  focus.  You  are  now 
ready  to  see  the  general  form  of  the  flower.  At 
the  base  is  a  little  body  with  roughened  sides  and 
slightly  narrowed  above  (the  ovary).  Springing 
from  the  top  of  the  ovary  are  a  number  of  fine 
bristles  (the  pappus).  Inside  the  bristles  is  a 
yellow  portion,  tubular  below  and  flat  above  ( the 

*In  these  directions  "  i>£  in.  power"  means  a  lens  having  a  focus  of 
i}£  inches ;  "  )£  in.  power  "  means  a  lens  or  combination  of  lenses  having 
a  focus  of  K  inch  ;  and  so  on.  All  the  different  powers  mentioned  in  the 
directions  may  be  obtained  in  the  small-sized  3-lens,  bellows  form  magni- 
fier, either  by  using  the  lenses  singly  or  combined  in  different  ways.  The 
magnifying  power  of  any  single  lens  or  simple  combination  is  easily  found 
by  dividing  10,  by  the  focus  in  inches.  Thus  the  magnifying  power  of  a 
>£  in,  lens  is  found  in  this  way:  io~%*=iox^  20.  The  lens  magnifies 
therefore  20  diameters  i.  e.  makes  an  object  appear  twenty  times  as  long 
and  twenty  times  as  broad  as  it  is. 


HOW   TO   SEE   A   DANDELION.  103 

corolla).  Projecting  from  the  tube  of  the  corolla 
is  a  little  yellow  rod  (  the  top  of  the  stamens  joined 
together);  and  coming  from  among  the  stamens 
are  two  slender  recurved  organs  (  the  stigmas  ). 

Now  take  a  mounted  needle  in  each  hand  and 
holding  one  needle  on  the  flat  part  of  the  corolla 
split  open  the  tubular  part  with  the  other.  By 
keeping  the  lower  part  spread  open  with  the 
needles,  you  will  see  that  a  number  of  delicate  yel- 
low threads  grow  from  the  sides  of  the  corolla  and 
are  connected  with  the  yellow  stamen  rod.  These 
threads  are  another  part  of  the  stamens.  In  the 
middle  of  the  flower  is  a  single  thread-like  organ 
( the  style  )  which  comes  from  the  top  of  the  ovary 
and  passing  through  the  stamens  projects  beyond 
them,  divided  into  two  stigmas. 

Most  of  my  readers  have  probably  studied  enough 
botany  to  know  the  names  of  the  different  parts  of 
a  flower,  but  very  likely  many  of  them  do  not  rec- 
ognize the  parts  of  the  Dandelion  flower  as  looking 
anything  like  the  parts  of  the  flower  with  which 
they  are  familiar. 

Before  proceeding  further,  therefore  let  us  take 


104  A    HOME-MADE   MICROSCOPE. 

a  Morning-Glory  flower  —  which  you  all  know  and 
can  easily  obtain,  or  at  least  some  flower  like  it  — 
and  let  us  see  that  the  parts  of  the  two  correspond. 
Commencing  in  the  centre  we  find  in  both  a 
pistil,  consisting  of  an  ovary  at  the  base  and  a 
stigma  at  the  top  and  a  style  between.  In  the 
Dandelion  the  stigma  is  split  in  halves,  while  in  the 
morning-glory  it  is  not  split  but  has  three  little 
knobs.  Around  the  pistil  come  the  stamens  in 
each  case.  Each  stamen  is  composed  of  two  parts  : 
a  slender  stem  (the  filament)  and  a  little  sac  at 
the  end  ( the  anther  )  which  is  filled  with  pollen 
dust.  In  both  cases  the  filaments  grow  out  of  the 
sides  of  the  corolla.  But  while  in  the  Morning- 
Glory  the  anthers  are  entirely  free  from  one  an- 
other, in  the  Dandelion  they  are  joined  together  by 
their  sides  and  form  a  tube  around  the  style.  The 
corolla  in  both  cases  is  all  of  one  piece,  but  in  the 
Dandelion  it  is  as  if  the  upper  part  of  the  corolla 
were  split  open  one  side  and  then  made  flat.  In- 
stead of  a  green  calyx  as  in  the  Morning-Glory,  the 
Dandelion  has  a  number  of  delicate  white  bristles. 
And,  finally,  in  the  Morning-Glory  both  the  calyx 


HOW   TO    SEE   A    DANDELION.  105 

and  corolla  grow  out  from  below  the  ovary,  while 
in  the  Dandelion  its  calyx  of  bristles  and  its  corolla 
issue  from  above  the  ovary.  So  after  all,  you  will 
see  that  corresponding  organs  are  in  both,  and  the 
difference  between  the  two  flowers  is  not  so  great 
as  one  might  think  at  first. 

Let  the  different  parts  of  the  Dandelion  be  ex- 
amined now  more  minutely.  First  take  some  of 
the  bristles  and  examine  them  with  one  quarter 
inch  power.  They  are  not  perfectly  smooth,  but 
are  more  or  less  saw-like  on  the  edge.  With  the 
same  power  look  at  other  parts  of  the  flower; 
notice  the  hairiness  of  the  stigmas,  the  pollen  grains 
coming  out  of  the  anthers  (  some  grains  may  be 
found  on  the  stigmas  )  also  the  roughness  of  the 
ovary  and  the  delicate  ribs  or  veins  in  the  corolla. 
Examine  one  of  the  seed-like  fruits  with  one  and 
one  half  inch  power.  It  is  a  ripened  ovary.  Com- 
pare the  fruit  with  the  ovary  of  a  flower.  The  nut- 
let has  become  hard,  rougher  and  more  strongly 
ribbed.  The  narrowed  upper  part  of  the  ovary  has 
become  much  elongated  and  the  pappus  is  spread 
out  like  an  inverted  umbrella. 


106  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

Examine  some  bristles  with  one  quarter  inch 
power.  They  show  the  saw-like  edges  'much  more 
developed  than  in  the  younger  bristles  of  the  flower. 
We  see  throughout  a  beautiful  adaptation  of  every 
part  for  fitting  the  little  parachute  to  be  carried 
long  distances  by  the  wind  and  finally  to  catch  on 
some  suitable  place  in  which  to  sprout. 


XIV.  — HOW  TO    SEE  A   BUMBLE   BEE. 

YOU  will  first  need  to  catch  your  Bumble  Bee. 
A  little  chloroform  poured  on  one  will  kill 
it  instantly.  Make  a  general  examination  at  the 
outset  of  the  insect.  The  outside  of  the  body  is 
horny  and  covered  thickly  with  hairs.  On  the 
upper  side  the  hairs  are  much  more  numerous 
than  on  the  under  side.  The  whole  body  is  di- 
vided into  three  regions:  the  head,  bearing  the 
feelers  and  mouth-parts;  a  middle  part  (thorax) 
bearing  the  four  wings  and  six  legs  ;  and  a  hind 
part  (abdomen)  armed  with  the  sting. 

Remove  the  head  and  examine  with  one  and 
one  half  inch  power.  At  the  sides  are  two  prom- 
inent oval  bodies  (compound  eyes)  which  seem  to 
be  crossed  by  five  lines  ;  near  the  top  of  the  head, 
between  the  compound  eyes,  are  three  little  shiny 
bead-like  organs  (simple  eyes)  ;  starting  from  about 

the  middle  of  the  face  are  the  two  feelers  (anten- 
107 


108  A    HOME-MADE   MICROSCOPE. 

nae)  and  at  the  lower  part  of  the  head  are  the 
mouth-parts.  The  sides,  top  and  front  of  the  head 
are  all  covered  with  hair. 

Examine  one  of  the  compound  eyes  with  one 
fourth  inch  power.  The  surface  is  made  up  of 
innumerable  little  facets,  something  like  a  cut  dia- 
mond. 

Cut  off  a  piece  of  one  of  the  compound  eyes, 
remove  some  of  the  black  pigment  on  the  back 
and  examine  the  piece  in  a  drop  of  water.  Each 
facet  is  a  tiny  hexagon.  Some  care  is  necessary  to 
see  them  well. 

Remove  an  antenna  and  examine  it  with  three 
fourths  inch  power.  It  is  thickly  covered  with 
minute  hairs  which  give  it  a  velvety  appearance. 
Count  the  joints.  At  the  base  is  the  longest  joint; 
at  the  lower  end  of  which  is  a  little  knob  that  fits 
into  a  socket  in  the  head.  The  next  joint  is  quite 
small  while  those  beyond  are  much  alike. 

Scrape  the  hairs  from  the  face  and  examine  the 
horny  shell  with  three  fourths  inch  power.  The 
surface  is  full  of  little  pits.  In  the  upper  part  of 
the  face  there  is  a  groove,  in  the  middle  of  which 


HOW    TO    SEE   A    BUMBLE    BEE.  109 

• 

is  one  of  the  simple  eyes.  Just  below  the  antennae 
sockets  is  a  groove  which  extends  crosswise  a  short 
distance  on  either  side  and  then  bends  downwards 
to  the  mouth.  The  portion  of  the  face  bounded 
by  this  groove  is  called  the  clypeus.  At  its  lower 
part  is  hinged  a  little  oblong  piece  (labium)  which 
may  be  moved  up  and  down  with  a  needle. 

Melt  a  piece  of  sealing  wax  on  the  centre  of  a 
slip  of  glass  (taking  care  not  to  break  the  glass 
by  too  sudden  heating)  and  before  the  wax  hard- 
ens press  the  head  into  it  face  downwards. 

Examine  with  one  inch  power.  The  hole  near 
the  top  of  the  head  shows  the  position  of  the  neck. 
The  portion  of  the  head  around  this  hole  is  destitute 
of  hairs  and  is  hollowed  in,  to  make  room  for  the 
rounded  front  part  of  the  thorax.  Below  this  one 
there  is  another  cavity  which  contains  a  portion  of 
the  mouth  parts  when  they  are  retracted.  At  each 
side  of  the  mouth  in  front  of  the  base  of  the  suck- 
ing organs,  are  the  two  jaws  (mandibles)  each  with 
a  little  tuft  of  hair  on  the  outer  side.  The  jaws 
move  freely  to  and  from  each  other,  sideways  in- 
stead of  up  and  down  as  do  the  jaws  of  the  higher 


110  A   HOME-MADE   MICROSCOPE. 

animals.  The  sucking  apparatus  consists  of  five 
pieces  viz  :  two  outermost  pieces  each  tapering  to 
a  fine  point,  two,  each  of  which  ends  in  three  little 
joints  and  one  in  the  centre  which  projects  beyond 
the  others.  It  may  be  necessary  to  spread  these 
out  with  the  needle,  to  see  them  well. 

Separate  the  thorax  from  the  rest  of  the  body. 
Scrape  off  the  hairs  on  the  back.  Two  principal 
grooves  extend  across  the  back,  one  near  the  front 
and  one  near  the  hind  margin.  The  thorax  is  com 
posed  of  three  divisions  and  these  grooves  show 
where  they  are  joined  together.  The  hind  divi- 
sion bears  the  hind  wings  and  the  hind  pair  of 
legs;  the  middle  division,  much  the  largest  divi- 
sion of  the  three,  bears  the  fore  wings  and  the 
middle  pair  of  legs ;  and  the  foremost  division  is 
quite  small  and  bears  only  the  front  pair  of  legs. 

Remove  the  wings  of  one  side  and  examine  in  a 
drop  of  water  with  one  and  one  half  inch  power. 
The  wings  consist  of  a  shining  transparent  mem- 
brane strengthened  by  numerous  horny  veins  run- 
ning through  it.  Examine  with  one  half  inch 
power.  The  membrane  is  seen  to  be  covered  with 


HOW   TO    SEE    A    BUMBLE    BEE.  m 

minute  hairs  and  little  dots.  On  the  front  edge  of 
the  hind  wing  a  short  distance  from  the  outer  end 
is  a  row  of  hooks.  At  a  corresponding  place  on 
the  hind  edge  of  the  fore  wing  there  is  a  thicken- 
ing or  ridge.  When  flying,  the  hooks  catch  onto 
the  ridge  and  thus  the  wings  are  held  together  and 
act  as  one  large  wing. 

Examine  this  grappling  apparatus  with  one  fourth 
inch  power  and  with  the  needles  hook  the  wings 
together  and  pull  them  apart.  If  you  look  through 
the  magnifier  while  you  do  this  you  will  get  a  good 
idea  of  the  form  of  the  ridge  and  of  how  the  hooks 
catch  onto  it.  Remove  one  of  the  forelegs,  being 
sure  that  none  remains  attached  to  the  body.  Ex- 
amine with  one  and  one  half  inch  power.  The  ex- 
tremity is  armed  with  two  claws ;  then  come  four 
short  joints  followed  by  one  about  as  long  as  the 
others  together.  All  these  make  up  the  foot.  The 
next  joint  above  is  the  shank,  then  comes  the  thigh 
and  then  quite  a  small  joint,  the  lower  hip,  and 
lastly  attached  to  the  body  is  the  upper  hip. 

Remove  the  last  five  joints  of  the  foot  (the  claw 
part,  and  the  other  four  joints)  examine  with  one 


112  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

third  inch  power.  The  claws  have  each  a  branch 
projecting  from  the  inner  edge.  Between  the  claws 
is  a  little  velvety  pad.  Each  of  the  small  joints  is 
covered  with  short  closely  appressed  hairs  and 
from  the  lower  end  of  each  joint  project  several 
spines.  Now  examine  the  remaining  long  joint  of 
the  foot  attached  to  the  shank.  At  the  upper  end 
of  the  inner  side  is  a  deep  semicircular  notch,  the 
upper  portion  of  which  is  light  colored.  Beside 
the  notch  is  a  peculiarly  shaped  movable  spine 
which  projects  from  the  lower  end  of  the  shank. 
This  queer  arrangement  is  what  the  bee  uses  to 
clean  his  feelers.  The  reader  has  probably  seen 
the  operation  performed  by  a  bee  or  a  wasp.  The 
leg  is  thrown  over  the  feeler,  the  latter  is  grasped 
at  that  particular  bend  of  the  leg  where  the  cleans- 
ing apparatus  is  situated  and  then  drawn  through 
from  base  to  tip ;  and  this  is  repeated  several 
times  with  each  feeler. 

Examine  with  one  and  one  half  inch  power  a  leg 
from  each  of  the  other  pairs  and  compare  the  cor- 
responding parts.  They  differ  chiefly  in  size  and 
in  the  absence  of  the  cleansing  apparatus.  You 


HOW   TO    SEE   A    BUMBLE    BEE.  1 13 

cannot  fail  to  admire  the  many  beautiful  forms  of 
the  different  portions.  On  the  outer  side  of  the 
hind  shank  is  a  smooth  flattish  surface  destitute  of 
hairs,  excepting  a  fringe  of  long  ones  at  the  mar- 
gin. At  this  place  may  sometimes  be  found  a 
sticky  mass  of  pollen  intended  for  bee-bread.  Ex- 
amine the  abdomen  with  one  and  one  half  inch 
power.  It  is  composed  of  several  wings.  If  some 
of  the  hairs  are  scraped  off  this  will  be  shown 
more  clearly.  From  the  hind  extremity  projects 
the  sting. 

We  have  far  from  exhausted  all  the  beautiful 
and  interesting  points  in  the  make-up  of  a  Bumble 
Bee,  not  even  those  that  may  be  seen  with  the 
limited  powers  of  a  simple  microscope  ;  but  prob- 
ably enough  has  been  said  to  show  the  reader  that 
such  things  are  well  worthy  of  study  and  it  is  hoped 
that  enough  directions  have  been  given  to  render 
future  use  of  the  instruments  comparatively  free 
from  difficulty. 


XV. —SOME   LITTLE  THINGS    TO   SEE. 

THERE  is  no  end  to  the  beautiful  and  won- 
derful things  one  can  see  with  the  simple 
microscope.     Only  a  few  of  the   more  attractive 
and  easily  obtained  of  these  are  now  to  be  men- 
tioned. 

To  begin  with,  there  are  ever  so  many  pretty 
flowers  to  look  at.  The  asterworts,  that  is,  such 
flowers  as  the  daisy,  aster,  golden  rod,  dandelion 
and  thistle,  are  particularly  full  of  beauty.  The 
blossoms  are  all  made  up  of  a  number  of  little 
flowers  as  in  the  dandelion ;  but  the  shapes  and 
colors  and  so  forth,  of  the  different  kinds  are  ex- 
ceedingly various.  Some,  such  as  the  asters  and 
daisies,  have  two  kinds  of  flowers  in  the  same  blos- 
som —  flowers  with  strap-shaped  corollas  (like  the 
dandelion's)  are  arranged  along  the  margin  of  the 
blossom,  while  in  the  centre  are  little  flowers  with 
star-shaped  corollas  presenting  a  much  different 
114 


SOME    LITTLE    THINGS    TO    SEE.  115 

appearance.  Flowers  of  many  of  the  Parsley 
Family,  for  example  wild  carrot,  wild  parsnip  and 
caraway,  are  quite  odd.  Very  pretty  flowers  are 
found  among  the  grasses,  sedges  and  common 
weeds.  The  different  trees  as  they  bloom  in 
spring  —  the  maples,  elms,  willows,  poplars,  sassa- 
fras and  hosts  of  others  —  all  have  flowers  that 
are  perfectly  lovely.  Most  of  these  flowers  need  to 
be  picked  to  pieces  under  the  magnifier  to  show 
up  their  full  beauty.  The  parts  of  flowers,  both 
small  and  large  ones,  deserve  attention.  Fre- 
quently one  meets  with  remarkable  forms. 

Seeds  are  highly  interesting.  They  are  often 
handsomely  marked  with  series  of  pits  or  projec- 
tions, grooves  or  ridges.  One  meets  with  many 
curious  appendages  by  means  of  which  the  seeds 
are  carried  off  and  sown  at  a  distance  from  the 
plant.  Some,  like  the  dandelion,  have  a  parachute 
attachment ;  others  have  wings  to  catch  the  wind, 
and  others  still  are  covered  with  hooked  spines 
whereby  they  become  attached  to  the  fur  of  ani- 
mals, there  to  remain  until  brushed  off  onto  the 
ground. 


Il6  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

Leaves  and  stems  sometimes  have  on  them 
beautiful  hairs  and  oil-glands.  The  wooly  cover- 
ing of  common  mullein,  for  example,  is  made  up  of 
innumerable  slender-branched  hairs.  These  show 
best  when  a  piece  of  the  leaf  broken  off  is  looked 
at  edgewise. 

If  you  examine  the  fruit-dots  on  the  backs  of  the 
different  kinds  of  ferns  you  will  be  surprised  to  find 
how  pretty  they  are  and  of  how  many  different 
shapes.  Sometimes  the  fruit  is  not  borne  on  the 
back  of  the  leaf  but  forms  little  clusters  by  them- 
selves, which  are  sometimes  at  the  end  of  the  fern, 
sometimes  in  the  middle,  sometimes  on  a  separate 
stalk. 

Mosses,  lichens  and  sea-weeds  are  well  worth 
looking  at. 

Early  in  the  summer  an  exquisite  little  fungus 
called  "  Cluster  cups  "  may  be  found  on  the  under- 
side of  barberry  leaves.  Hawthorn  and  other 
plants  have  handsome  fungi  on  them  later  in  the 
season. 

By  observing  closely  while  out  in  the  fields  or 
woods,  one  sees  hovering  about  in  swarms,  myriads 


SOME    LITTLE    THINGS    TO    SEE.  117 

of  tiny  insects.  Under  the  lens  some  of  them  are 
very  odd,  others  very  beautiful.  The  easiest  way 
to  catch  these  little  midgets,  is  to  wet  the  palm  of 
the  hand  and  then  sweep  it  among  them,  or  in  the 
same  way  use  a  piece  of  sticky  paper. 

The  study  of  the  different  parts  of  insects  is  one 
of  the  most  fascinating  of  the  many  uses  of  the 
Simple  microscope.  Although  all  insects  are  made 
up  on  the  same  general  plan  and  corresponding 
organs  occur  in  most  of  them,  there  is  an  endless 
variety  in  the  forms  under  which  we  see  the  differ- 
ent organs  and  the  uses  to  which  they  are  put. 

Take  for  example  the  antennae.  In  the  grass- 
hopper it  is  long  and  threadlike ;  in  the  butter- 
flies always  ending  in  a  knob ;  in  moths  always 
tapering  to  a  point,  although  sometimes  threadlike 
and  sometimes  much  branched,  forming  a  beauti- 
ful plume ;  in  the  beetles,  sometimes  fan-like,  some- 
times like  a  comb  ;  and  in  other  insects  assuming 
still  other  forms.  Insects'  eyes  are  often  colored 
beautifully.  A  horse-fly's  eyes  are  striped.  Butter- 
flies' eyes  have  usually  a  soft  liquid  coloring,  and 
moths' eyes  in  the  dark  shine  like  little  fiery  beads. 


Il8  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

The  mouths  of  insects,  such  as  beetles,  grass- 
hoppers and  dragon  flies,  have  strong  jaws  for  bit- 
ing ;  flies,  bugs,  moths  and  butterflies,  have  the 
mouth-parts  transformed  into  sucking  organs,  while 
bees,  wasps  and  the  like  have  both  sucking  organs 
for  honey,  and  biting  organs  for  leaf-cutting,  wood- 
tearing  etc.  as  we  saw  was  the  case  in  the  Bumble 
Bee. 

Butterflies'  wings  and  moths'  wings  are  covered 
with  little  scales  of  a  variety  of  shapes.  These 
should  be  examined  attached  to  the  wing  to  show 
their  arrangement  which  is  like  that  of  shingles  on 
a  roof;  but  to  show  their  form  they  should  be 
looked  at  when  brushed  from  the  wing  onto  a  piece 
of  glass.  Many  other  peculiarities  may  be  noticed 
in  the  wings  of  other  kinds  of  insects. 

Legs,  the  same  as  the  other  organs,  have  vari- 
ous forms,  markings  and  appendages,  and  so  it  is 
•with  the  abdomen  and  its  stings  or  its  egg-laying 
apparatus. 

The  hairs  of  "  Wooly  Bears  "  and  caterpillars  of 
that  kind  are  peculiarly  branched. 

The  four  hind  pairs  of  feet  in  caterpillars  are 


SOME    LITTLE    THINGS    TO    SEE.  1 19 

armed  each  with  a  row  of  little  hooks  which  are 
used  in  walking  to  get  a  firm  hold.  The  larger 
caterpillars  show  the  hooks  best. 

Sometimes  you  will  find  pretty  insect  eggs  on  the 
underside  of  leaves  or  on  stems,  and  also  little  silken 
cocoons  in  similar  places.  If  you  are  near  a  pond- 
hole,  or  an  old  hogshead  that  collects  rain  water, 
you  can  find  a  good  many  little  animals,  some  of 
them  very  frisky  —  young  mosquitoes  or  "poly- 
wogs,"  water-fleas,  Cyclops,  little  worms,  young 
dragon-flies  and  lots  of  others.  When  you  go  to 
collect  them  take  a  small  wide-mouth  bottle  and, 
having  found  a  place  where  there  is  what  you  want, 
lower  your  bottle,  mouth  down,  in  the  midst  of  them 
and  when  it  is  well  under  water  turn  the  mouth  up- 
wards. A  good  many  of  the  animals  will  run  in 
with  the  water.  If  the  first  time  you  do  not  get 
what  you  want,  the  second  time  you  may.  When 
you  want  to  examine  them  at  home  you  can  fish 
them  out  with  a  glass  tube  and  put  them  in  a  watch 
crystal  or  on  the  glass  stage  of  the  microscope.  In 
using  the  tube  take  it  between  the  thumb  and 
middle  and  third  fingers,  and  close  the  top  with 


120  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

your  first  finger  ;  then  put  the  lower  end  of  the  tube 
in  the  water  close  to  the  thing  you  want  to  catch  ; 
now  lift  your  first  finger  quickly  and  the  water  will 
run  in  the  lower  end  of  the  tube  carrying  with  it 
your  little  squirmer,  unless  he  has  been  too  quick 
for  you.  Close  the  top  of  your  tube  again  and  the 
water  will  not  run  out  when  you  remove  the  tube, 
until  you  lift  your  finger.  Sometimes  it  takes  a 
good  deal  of  patience  and  skill  to  catch  the  more 
agile  of  the  little  water  animals.  Glass  tubes  are 
sold  in  drug  stores  for  five  or  ten  cents. 

If  you  begin  by  examining  the  objects  already 
spoken  of,  you  will  while  looking  for  these  be  con- 
tinually discovering  for  yourselves  new  objects 
possessing  new  beauties  and  will  soon  see  that  not 
half  the  interesting  things  you  can  find  have  been 
ever  hinted  at. 

The  way  to  find  out  about  all  these  things  is  to 
go  out  into  the  fields  and  woods,  and  form  the 
habit  of  observing  closely  what  is  around  you. 
Carry  your  magnifier  along  and  look  at  this  flower, 
that  fern,  this  insect,  that  moss,  with  different 
powers  of  the  magnifier ;  and  when  you  come 


SOME    LITTLE   THINGS    TO    SEE.  121 

across  any  objects  worthy  of  a  more  careful  exam- 
ination carry  them  home  and  examine  them  sys- 
tematically with  Simple  microscope,  needles, 
knife,  and  so  forth.  Insects  may  be  kept  well  in 
alcohol  until  winter,  and  then  careful  studies  may 
be  made  of  them. 

When  using  the  magnifier  in  the  field,  hold  it  in 
such  a  way  that  the  smallest  lens  will  be  nearest 
the  object  when  the  lenses  are  combined  and  be 
careful  not  to  shade  the  object  with  the  hand  or 
the  hat  brim.  Just  enough  light  should  fall  on  the 
object  to  make  its  examination  comfortable  for  the 
eyes.  If  you  rest  the  hand  holding  the  magnifier 
on  the  hand  that  holds  the  object,  both  lens  and 
object  can  be  held  much  steadier.  When  com- 
mencing to  examine  an  object  it  is  best  to  have 
the  three  lenses  spread  apart,  for  in  this  way  you 
can  use  first  the  lowest  power  then  those  higher 
and  finally,  if  you  wish  to,  the  three  lenses  com- 
bined. The  dissecting  forceps  are  very  handy  to 
have  in  the  field,  both  for  picking  up  anything  too 
small  for  the  fingers  and  for  holding  an  object  to 
be  examined. 


122  A    HOME-MADE   MICROSCOPE. 

A  collection  of  some  of  these  little  things  pre- 
served and  ready  for  examination  adds  greatly  to 
the  pleasures  of  studying  them.  Of  course  all  the 
different  kinds  of  objects  cannot  be  preserved  so 
as  to  show  their  full  beauty,  but  many  can  be  and 
the  following  directions  will  tell  how  to  make  a 
very  good  collection  : 

Seeds,  fern-fruit,  insects  and  other  opaque  ob- 
jects like  these  may  be  mounted  on  pasteboard 
slides.  One  of  these  slides  consists  simply  of  a 
stout  piece  of  pasteboard,  having  a  hole  cut  in  the 
centre  and  a  piece  of  thick  paper  or  cardboard 
glued  on  the  under  side.  The  object  is  attached 
to  the  cardboard  at  the  bottom  of  the  hole. 

It  is  best  to  make  a  number  of  these  slides  at  a 
time.  Having  procured  some  quite  thick  paste- 
board, from  old  paper  boxes,  rule  lines  on  the  sur- 
face dividing  it  up  into  spaces  three  inches  long  by 
one  inch  wide.  In  the  centre  of  each  space  cut 
out  a  hole  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter.  A  sharp 
knife  will  make  a  neat  square  hole  or  a  good  round 
one  may  be  made  with  a  gun-wad  punch.  This  done, 
the  spaces  may  be  cut  apart  with  a  sharp  knife  and 


SOME    LITTLE    THINGS    TO    SEE.  123 

ruler,  along  the  lines  already  drawn.  Pieces  of  card- 
board for  the  backs  should  be  cut  a  trifle  larger 
than  the  pasteboard  portion  of  the  slide  ;  after  they 
are  glued  onto  the  latter  they  may  be  trimmed  down 
neatly  with  a  pair  of  scissors.  Glue  or  mucilage 
containing  glycerine  (in  the  proportion  of  one  or 
two  teaspoonfuls  to  an  ordinary  bottle  of  mucil- 
age) is  the  best  thing  to  use  for  sticking  on  the 
backs.  While  the  slides  are  drying  they  should  be 
either  under  a  weight  or  in  a  clamp  screwed  up 
tightly,  so  as  to  prevent  their  twisting  out  of 
shape.  The  mucilage. may  be  prevented  from  be- 
ing squeezed  in  round  the  edges  of  the  hole,  by 
taking  care  when  putting  it  on  not  to  have  it  come 
too  near  the  hole.  One  or  two  coats  of  India  Ink 
may  be  painted  on  the  middle  of  some  of  the 
pieces  of  cardboard,  either  before  or  after  they  are 
put  onto  the  slides ;  and  thus  a  black  background 
may  be  obtained  for  the  lighter-colored  opaque 
objects.  Many  of  the  objects  will  however  show 
best  on  a  white  background. 

When   you  have  the   slides  all  made,  nothing 
more  is  needed  to  mount  an  object,  than  simply  to 


124  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

attach  it  to  the  bottom  of  the  hole  with  a  little 
mucilage  and  glycerine,  or  something  of  that  sort, 
and  finally  to  write  the  name  of  the  object  on  the 
front  part  of  the  slide,  and  on  the  back  any  desir- 
able notes.  A  good  way  to  mount  such  objects  as 
fine  seeds  is  to  put  them  in  the  hole  loosely  and 
then  cover  them  with  a  piece  of  mica  such  as  will 
be  spoken  of  presently. 

Objects  which  are  to  be  examined  by  the  light 
shining  through  them,  for  example  a  bee's  wing  or 
a  butterfly's  scales,  must  be  mounted  on  glass  slides. 

A  glass  slide  three  inches  by  one  is  taken,  on 
the  centre  is  placed  the  object ;  over  this  is  laid  a 
thin  piece  of  clear  mica  three  fourths  of  an  inch 
square,  and  this  is  attached  to  the  glass  by  pasting 
narrow  strips  of  tissue  paper  around  the  edges  of 
the  cover,  partly  on  the  cover  and  partly  on  the 
slide.  Finally  the  slide  is  covered  with  some 
pretty  colored  paper  and  labeled. 

Two  pieces  of  paper  are  needed  to  cover  each 
slide.  One  for  the  under  part  is  cut  about  one 
and  one  half  by  three  and  one  half  inches,  with  a 
hole  in  the  centre  (round  or  square).  This  piece 


SOME    LITTLE    THINGS    TO    SEE.  125 

is  first  pasted  on,  the  corners  being  cut  and  the 
edges  brought  over  onto  the  front.  The  upper 
piece,  which  has  a  hole  in  the  centre  similar  to 
that  in  the  lower  piece,  and  is  cut  a  trifle  larger 
than  the  three  by  one  inch  slide,  is  next  pasted  on 
so  that  the  hole  will  correspond  with  the  one  be- 
low. The  upper  piece  of  paper  is  now  trimmed 
down  to  the  slide  and  the  label  attached.  Window 
glass  will  answer  for  the  slides  and  you  can  get 
any  glazier  to  cut  up  a  piece  for  you  into  the  right- 
sized  slips.  Mica  can  be  bought  at  a  stove  store, 
in  sheets  which  may  be  cut  up  into  three  fouths  of 
an  inch  squares  with  a  pair  of  scissors.  The  mica 
should  be  as  clear  as  you  can  get  it.  You  will  find 
it  handy  to  have  some  tissue  paper  all  mucilaged 
like  postage  stamps  and  cut  up  in  strips  the  right 
size  ready  to  use.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
colored  paper  covers  and  the  labels. 

The  dust  may  be  excluded  from  the  uncovered 
opaque  objects  by  keeping  the  mounted  slides  in 
small  groups,  held  together  by  elastic  bands.  This 
will  also  serve  to  classify  them  so  that  all  the  in- 
sects will  be  together,  all  the  seeds,  and  so  on  ;  and 


126  A    HOME-MADE    MICROSCOPE. 

the  transparent  slides  may  also  be  treated  in  the 
same  way.  When  an  elastic  band  wears  out,  it  is 
no  great  trouble  to  replace  it. 

In  working  with  the  Simple  microscope  there  is 
a  fine  chance  to  display  ingenuity,  not  only  in  mak- 
ing the  instruments  and  mounting  the  objects  but 
in  discovering  new  things  to  look  at  and  in  seeing 
how  much  can  be  found  out  about  those  things 
which  are  the  most  common. 


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